


The Order Of The Force

by Destiel_Sabriel4eva



Series: The Misadventures of Arleia Skywalker/Forget Me Not [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Asajj was an adorable child and no one will tell me otherwise, Character Death, Cliegg is Obi-Wan's Father, Coma, Evolution, F/F, F/M, Getting Together, Like seriously why do I do this, Lots of Sith, M/M, MACE HAS A HEADACHE, Mpreg, Multi, Obi-Wan still needs a hug, Shmi Skywalker is best Mum, Sith, Sith Garen, Sith Obi-Wan, Sith Qui-Gon, Sith Shenanigans, So Kriffing Much Of It, Sort Of, Surprise Child, That one is his fault, The Dark Side of the Force, The Force, Time Travel, Yoda deserves better than this shit, ish, not his fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-03-15 08:13:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 127,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13609233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiel_Sabriel4eva/pseuds/Destiel_Sabriel4eva
Summary: Things finally seem to be coming together, but can the group unite the Order before it is too late? Or are unforseen evils already conspiring against them? Then again, when it comes to a person's beliefs, the greatest enemy will always be themselves...





	1. Chapter 1

Part 2

Chapter 1

Arl, Dooku, and Quin arrive back to an empty meeting room, which was exactly what they expected so that is good.  They take a moment to just be thankful they are back before Quinlan feels like he is going to puke, Arl grabs the bin in the corner as he takes a seat and vomits up the lunch he ate.

“Note to self, shielding good but not full proof.” Arl says, Dooku chuckles, Quin did not hear her but glares anyway. **“Come on Quin, we better get you down to Terza.** **”** She tells him, he nods but gestures to the bin, Arl rolls her eyes, **“Yes you can keep the bin, lord knows no one else is gonna want it before it** **’s washed.** **”** He glares again before puking once more.  Dooku and Arl lead him down to the healer’s wing where they find Obi-Wan in the middle of sneaking out.

“Oh my gods, you’re back!” He cries with delight, then Quin throws up again, “That can’t be good, HEALER TERZA!” He yells, the woman comes running.

“I am going to deal with this then we are going to have a long conversation about how you are _still supposed to be in bed!_ ” Terza says to Obi when she arrives. “What is wrong with him?” she asks the other two as Arl and Terza guide Quin to a bed.

“Exposure to dark energy with insufficient shielding after a particularly nasty brand of torture left him particularly susceptible to it, you should have seen him before he learnt the shielding.” She remarks as Terza guides her and Quinlan into a room.

“What happened to you?” Dooku asks Obi-Wan.

“Xan shot me in the leg with a blaster.” Dooku’s raises his eyebrows. “Accidentally, I scared the fuck out of him, also accidentally, we were on the run from some terrorists we had pissed off…”

“Let me guess, accidentally?”

“No that was most definitely on purpose.” He says with a grin, Dooku sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose despite the intense amusement he feels.

“How healed is it?”  Obi-Wan puts his hand out and tilts it side to side, Dooku rolls his eyes, “You can go but Arlie will come by later to heal it.”

“You are my favourite Grand-Master!” Obi-Wan tells him.

“I am your only Grand-Master, idiot.” Dooku tells him with a happy smile.

“Okay, I don’t know what the hell happened while you were gone, but you smiling is weird.”

“What I can’t express happiness?”

“I was wrong.  The smiling isn’t the weird part, it’s you having happiness to express.”  Dooku laughs at his words, “I’m going to go tell my beautiful lover that his Master is back and the past broke him.” Obi says before turning to walk out, “Oh and Dooku?” It actually takes him a moment to remember that is his name.

“Yes, Little Obi?” Obi-Wan gives him a wide toothy grin.

“I’m glad you’re all back.” He says before disappearing around the corner.

“So am I.” Dooku says quietly to himself before moving to catch up with his partners. (Did he just say lover?)

 

It’s a week before a meeting can be called with all in attendance, not wanting to tell the story more than once, Arl and Dooku spent that time with Quin in the healer’s wing.  Quinlan was fine after three days, but Terza is extremely paranoid, yet had not noticed his deafness.  The trio had requested none come to see them until the meeting with no real explanation beyond, time to deal.

“You are not leaving again.” Mace tells her, no room for argument in his voice, as he hugs her the second she enters the room, she hugs him back tightly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it Master.” She tells him, lots of hugs and greetings later, everyone is seated at the table.

“So, what was it like?” Garen asks after a few moments silence, Dooku and Arl were translating through the bond for Quin.

“Felt like we never left this place.” Quin jokes, Arl snickers as Dooku laughs, everyone else looks confused.

“We watched the end and the beginning of an era, it was both heartbreaking and breathtaking.” Arlie tells them honestly.

“We were wrong about our timeline too, we weren’t 100 years before the third sect died off, we were three weeks prior to it.”  Everyone looks fascinated, knowing that means they watched it happen.

“I am just glad you are all back, I did not want to be lighting anyone’s pyre.” Micah tells them, everyone nods their agreement except the trio who just appear to be very sad…no, they’re grieving.

“Who’d you lose?” Tholme asks when he realises.

“Everyone.” Arl says quietly looking haunted, then she smiles brightly, “Except Tyranus’ adopted daughter.” Dooku rolls his eyes as everyone else looks shocked to high hell.

“I thought you lot had rules in place to prevent becoming attached or involved.” Mic asks.

“We did.” Dooku tells them.

“And?” Adi asks.

“We broke them.”

“Of course you did.” Depa tells them.

“I did not actually adopt anyone though.”

“C’mon Ty, you so did.” Quin tells him.

“Oh shut up asshole.” Dooku tells him with a smile.

“Okay when did Dooku get feelings?” Obi-Wan asks, the trio laugh.

“I told you, didn’t I?  You’re not doing you correctly.”

“You also told me that everything was staring at you while looking dubiously at a fucking rock.”

“Coming from the man that stood on top of a building howling at everything with a thirteen-year-old.” Arl tells him.

“You threatened said thirteen-year-old within an hour of us getting back there.”

“Yes, I had paranoia issues, I know.”

“And I issues with letting go and having fun every now and then.”

“And me with being serious when the situation calls for it.” Quin adds, everyone looks at them surprised.

“Well you three sound like you had a hell of a time.” Mace tells them, Dooku smiles as Quinlan responds,

“It’s amazing what going home can do.”

“So, did you work out the third sect we need?” Tahl asks, Arl laughs.

“Oh we worked out a lot more than that my dear, we fixed the old order.  Or so we hope.  The three of us, with the help of an ancient Master who did not actually know he was helping us with it, gods bless Halvi, anyways, we’ve got a whole refit of the order worked out.  We can save it, make it better and stronger than before, and save reality along with it.” She tells her.

“That may not be as easy as you think.” Plo tells them, Arl frowns.

“What happened?”

“Senator Palpatine of Naboo is missing.”  Valorum responds.

“How do you lose a Senator?” Dooku questions.

“Mock later Ty, what happened?” Quin asks, which was a jarring change for the rest of them but they learnt how to roll with the punches long ago.

“We do not know, he entered his office one day and did not come out, that was a week ago.  We were hoping your tracking skills would enable you to find him when you returned.” Mundi tells him, he is quiet for a moment too long as Arl relays what was said, there were too many people for Quin to properly listen through the force, he had only been at it four weeks after all.

“If I can get access to his office then it is likely but depending how much time he has spent Sithing in there, I may not even be able to enter the room.”

“Why?” Bant asks looking worried.

“Because it’s his weakness.” Obi-Wan says, Arl frowns at him.

“Every sentient being has a weakness Obi, this one we can turn into a strength.”

“How so?” Dooku asks, she spins her chair to face him, she was beside Quin who sat beside Dooku so technically now she was facing the both of them.

“He is sensitive to Dark energies, if Wrath ever takes over another one of us, you’ll feel it.  Not to the extent of our first trip through time…”

“Gods do not remind me of that.”

“…but enough for you to notice.”

“Or if Maul shows up, little fucker can hide in the force and in the shadows all he wants, but his whole presence radiates darkness, I could always tell.” Quin tells everyone.

“Anything else we should know?” Kit asks, Quin nods.

“When torturing Arl, do not let Dooku hear her scream.  He tends to make labs explode and set buildings on fire with himself and everyone else inside it.”

“That’s how we got out?” Arl asks incredulously, Quin nods.

“Yeah he snapped, like Eran level snapped only with more power behind it, he was so panicked about it which made things worse and he couldn’t get control so he knocked himself out.”

“Yes, that sounds like an idiotic thing I would do.” Dooku says self-deprecatingly.

“Then Arl panicked, something about Vader I didn’t really hear it over the fire, then she blocked our memories.  Not permanently, but enough to get us to help.  Or so she planned, I think you over did it.” He tells her, she looks at him shocked.

“Yes, sounds like an idiotic thing _I_ would do.”

“What is eran?” Saesee asks, Dooku looks sad.

“Eran would be my so-called adoptive daughter, she is also the Jedi that waged war against the Sith and the one that had this temple set up.  In reality, she was a good friend of ours, one who lost everything very quickly, snapped, killed all of the foes with the force, got herself back and swore to prevent anything like that from happening again.”

“That was how the Order split?” Bellan asks, Arl shook her head.

“No, it was already split.  That was how the third sect died.”

“What was the third sect?” Tahl asks desperately needing to know, Dooku looks at Tahl before snapping his fingers at Arl and pointing back to Tahl, Arl’s eyes widen.

“Right, history.  The artefacts, the documents, the ones written off as fake.  Do we still keep them?” Arlie asks, Tahl nods.

“They should still be in the archives just in a box in storage.”

“Brilliant, um anyway third sect, the Masters of the Force.  They stayed true to the beginnings of The Order Of The Force.  The fact that they died off and the order split to begin with is why Ty and I planned to do things differently, we need something that will last.”

“Okay, but now we have the same problem we had with the Sith before their little reveal, we have no one to teach other’s to be these ‘Master of the Force’.” Adi reminds them.

“I can.” Arlie tells them, Xanatos sniggers.

“And on this day, no one was surprised.”

“So what’s your thing? Jedi are all about peace, Sith are about freedom and protection, what are you?” Garen asks, Arl smiles.

“We protect the order while you protect the galaxy.”

“You need a name.” Bant tells them, “For the history books.” She clarifies.

“The Custos.” Arl says after a moments thought.

“Poetic.” Quinlan tells her, she smiles.

“Ch’blanc for guardian.” Dooku translates with a smile.

“And Ch’blanc is?” Bant asks, but it is Tahl that answers.

“The Ancestral Language.”

“Yes, we can get a real translation for that document now, not that it would really change it all that much.”

“How goes the Sith training?” Arl asks her formerly brother-padawan turned favourite Sith Apprentice.

“His eyes glow now.” Micah says with very forced cheer, Garen hides a smile.

“Master…”

“I know! I’m trying.  And I am proud of you, really, it’s just…a lifetime of brain washing to get past.”

“Yet the rest of us acclimatised a month ago.” Depa teases, Mic glares.

“Yes well I have other stuff going on too you know!  Seriously, one padawan 13’000 years in the past, another training to be a Sith Apprentice by…an old friend who is a Sith Lord, my other best friend is only leaving the library when physically forced to, my Padawan’s mother either nervous cooking too much food or nervous knitting me jumpers.  Not to mention my partner running himself into the ground trying to find his brother, his nephew doing the same.  A good friend attempting to drag them both out of it as I take over being Master on call for the first Padawan’s little brother who decided the best way to deal with his fear of his sister not coming back was being a little twerp!” Micah rants, everyone falls silent.

“Master when was the last time you meditated?”  Arl asks worriedly, she’d only been gone a month but damn did things fall apart quickly.

“I don’t remember.” He says rubbing his forehead with his hand in an effort to relieve the constant headache he’s had the last month.

“Slept?”

“I got an hour last night.” He says defensively, if he’s counting that as good though she is even more worried.

“Ate?”

“Uhhh, I don’t remember that one either.”

“Took a break of any kind?” Dooku asks sharing his partner’s concern.

“I haven’t had the damned time!” He snaps, everyone in the room looks extremely guilty under Arlie, Dooku, and Quinlan’s accusing looks, hell even the Chancellor does!

“All right then.  Mace, Obi-Wan, you are taking three days off of the case unless something urgent is found, no arguments or I will beat you both until Terza makes you take that time in the healer’s wing.  Mic, you’re taking three days off of everything, Tyranus, you and Xan are going to be helping Quinlan with his investigation.  I will deal with my mother and…the little twerp.” Arl dictates.

“Arl, as nice as that would be, we are already down three council members, we can’t lose another.” Adi tells her.

“Actually, I’d been wondering about that, where is Master Ti?” Everyone looks super depressed.

“Oh gods, what happened?”

“A boulder was pushed off of a cliff onto her.  We caught the guy but…” Depa explains, Arl swallows hard and nods.

“Well it has been a year and a half since Piell and Poof stepped down.  You need their replacements on and caught up, if the council will permit it, I can temporarily take over Mic’s duties.”

“Actually Arl, Yarael named you his successor.  That’s why a replacement hasn’t been brought in, you’re it.” Adi tells her, she looks surprised.

“I am not even technically a Jedi anymore.” She points out.

“A Jedi you never were, stopped you before it has not.  Jedi you may not be but a part of the order you are.  On the council you have been for many years, a difference in paperwork this only is.” Yoda says speaking up for the first time the entire meeting, Arl nods.

“All right then, that is one down.  Even named you his successor Obi-Wan.” Depa tells him.

“To be fair he is unaware I am half-Sith.  Which is still a ridiculous way of putting it but it’s the best description we are going to get.” Obi-Wan responds.

“Never the less a position on this council you have if want it you do.” Yoda tells him, Obi-Wan nods his consent.

“Mic, first name on your list for temporary replacements should one be needed is Qui-Gon if I remember correctly.” Plo questions, Mic nods.

“And before you object, that has not changed.” Mic tells Qui-Gon who had opened his mouth to protest, Qui glares at him, not that it does much good when Mic won’t meet his eye anymore.

“A place you also do have, not just as Qui-Gon Jinn but as Darth Anarch as well.” Yoda says, Qui almost looks touched.

“Then I accept the temporary position, but temporary only, no quitting on me.” He says giving Mic a pointed look, Mic just laughs and holds his hands up in surrender before his smile falls and he looks to the table, Qui just looks away dejectedly.  Arl debates whether to manipulate and try and help them before deciding that, for once, she should leave the situation to be sorted out by them when they are ready.

“This is going to be one hell of a ride.” Quin says, Arl can’t find it in herself to disagree with that, it was an apt description after all.

“Hate to ruin the moment but that is still only eleven people.” Bant points out.

“We could ask Yaddle to re-join the council?” Arl offers.

“Ask you can but warning give me so that off the planet I can be.” Yoda tells her after cackling, she laughs.

“What about Tahl?” Qui-Gon says looking her in the eyes, she glares at him, then at everyone who seems to be considering it.

“Nope.” She says the moment Mace opens his mouth.

“Oh c’mon Tahl, we neeeeeed you!” Mic whines, she glares at him.

“It would be a great learning experience to be a Council Padawan for my final years.” Bant tells her Master who glares at her.

“Traitor.”

“You love me.”

“Not the point.”

“Please Tahl.” Adi asks, Tahl groans.

“Fine.”

“So that is, 9 Jedi, a Sith, a half-Sith, and a Custos on the Jedi High Council?  This is what you are telling me?” Valorum asks, not surprised so much as, everything they have been doing has just become so much more serious to him.

“No, The Jedi Order this can no longer be if wish to survive we all do.  Telling you we are that on a new council these beings are, the first High Council this is of The New Order Of The Force.” Yoda tells them all and smiles serenely.  Mic’s comm chimes, he looks at it and groans before answering it.

“Giiett.”

“Master Giiett, sorry to interrupt yet again, but he’s set a window on fire.  That is not even scientifically possible but here it is, in front of me, there’s a bloody window on fire.  WE DON’T EVEN HAVE CURTAINS!” Jey-Sahl Penn’s voice says, Arl makes gimme motions with her hands, he hands over the comm.

“Master Penn, this is Arl speaking.  Would you please put my brother on the pho…uhh…comm.” Arl requests.

“Oh thank the force you are back.” Penn says under her breathe as she gets the child in question.

“Arlie!” He calls happily.

“Anakin. Skywalker…” Arl begins.

“I’m putting it out I swear!” He blurts out, Arl vaguely hears the Creche Master’s call of relief in the background.

“I will be down as soon as this meeting wraps up Little Brother, that room had best be in order by then.” She tells him harshly.

“Yes Arleia.”

“And Anakin.”

“Yeah?” She could practically hear the cringe in his voice.

“I missed you Ani.” She tells him in a soft voice.

“I missed you too Arlie.” He replies, she really could hear the smile in his voice.

“All right, we’ll have a council meeting tomorrow at 8th hour, at 13th we’ll have another meeting like this one for Arl, Dooku, and Quinlan to tell us everything that happened, to be caught up on everything and tell us their plan for moving forward.  Until then, everyone go decompress.” Mace dictates, everyone nods their agreement and so the meeting is dismissed.

 

Arl heads straight down to the creche, unsurprised to find her brother sitting outside waiting for her.  She walks past him and over to Jey-Sahl, makes sure everything is all right now and that no one was hurt, gets a run down of his behaviour the last month, she then apologises for the trouble he has caused and goes to collect him.

“A-am I going to get kicked out?” He asks timidly, Arl smiles.

“When he had just turned thirteen, Garen blew a hole in the creche wall.  Bant used to go around scaring the pants off of everyone and from what I understand, Mic was into surprise attacks on people during his time in the creche.  No Ani you are not getting kicked out, but I’d appreciate an explanation. What the hell it is you’ve been doing, or more specifically why?” He looks to his feet as they walk.

“You’d think I’m crazy.” Arl fights back the inappropriate giggle that threatens to emerge at the thought of her finding anything crazy anymore.  She stops them and pulls them to the side of the hallway before kneeling down and grabbing his shoulders.

“No, I won’t.” He seems to debate with himself for a minute as he searches her eyes for something.

“He’s quiet for a while if I react.” He murmurs looking to his feet again.  “And he said you weren’t coming back so I was upset anyway. Mum used to say that when I asked, but I wanted to believe.  It’s hard to believe with him whispering all the time so I wanted him to be quiet.” Arl swallows back any outward emotion or expression save for kindness and mild concern.

“He who?” She asks gently, he looks up at her in surprise.

“I dunno his name.”  Arl swallows and nods.

“Is he whispering right now?”  Anakin shakes his head, “Coz of the fire yeah?” He nods, “If and when he starts again Anakin, it’s really important you come tell me.  I may be able to help.” He nods again, “Okay good.  Now, we are going to go see Micah, you will apologise for causing him so much trouble and then we are going to go catch up with Mum for a while because I have not seen her since I got back.”

“Okay.” He says with a small smile, “Arls?”

“Yeah Ani?”

“Thanks for believing me.”

“I don’t just believe you Ani, I believe in you, I always will.” He takes her hand as they walk to her quarters.

 

The door is open as always when they get there, they see Mace making tea and Mic laying on the sofa reading a datapad.

“Master Giiett?” Ani calls from the doorway, the man in question looks over and smiles at him as he sits up.

“Hi Ani, what can I do for you?” He asks, the boy seems shocked that Micah isn’t annoyed at him, Arl isn’t, he trained Garen after all.

“I um…” he says looking to Arl who nods in encouragement. “I’m really sorry for my behaviour lately and that it kept interrupting your work.”  Mic smiles kindly.

“I appreciate that Anakin, I hope your sister has helped in some way and that this was the last complaint we’ll be getting?”  Anakin bites his lip awkwardly.

“I do too.” He mumbles nervously, Mic looks to Arl who shakes her head and mouths later to him, he nods.

“Come on Ani, time to go see Mum.”

“Wait, um, Master Giiett, I also wanted to say, thank you.  Coz I did a lot of silly and bad stuff but you kept coming down and you wanted to help not to yell at me every time.  Thank you.” He says before moving to follow Arlie out of the door.

“Honey?” Mic calls once the two have left, Mace walks over with their tea.

“Yes?”

“I know Obi has dibs on that one, but can we get another Padawan?” Mace laughs.

“Sure Mic, so long as this one doesn’t blow things up to win your favour.” Mace replies sarcastically, they both laugh.  Mic, meanwhile, smiles mischievously into his tea, he had technically said yes after all.

 

“Arleia, you’re back!” Shmi says happily as she answers her door and throws her arms around her daughter, “I’m just on the comm desk with Cliegg if you want to say hi.” Arl smirks to herself.

“I’d love to.” She says pulling her brother in with her.

“Are you in trouble again?” Shmi asks the boy.

“Not this time.” Arl says with a smile winking at her brother from behind their mother.

“Good boy.” She says ruffling her son’s hair.

“Muuum.” He complains.

“Hi Cliegg, how goes the desert?” Arl asks sitting down at the desk to see the man over the vidscreen.

“Hot, and sandy.” He replies with a smile, “How goes whatever mission you were on?”

“It was certainly an interesting one.”

“How many injuries?”

“Among us?  One.”

“Among everyone else?”

“More than one.” Arl replies sadly but at peace with the knowledge that she couldn’t have really helped them without creating a different timeline.

“How many did you help though?” Arl smiles at the man, this timeline, last timeline, doesn’t matter, he was the same.

“A great deal more.”

“I’d call that a success then.” She laughs.

The four of them chat for a while before Obi-Wan wanders in looking annoyed.

“Obi?” Shmi asks concerned.

“Why do people even date?  Everyone is an ass.” He replies, Arl winces, she knew that tone.  Qui-Gon done fucked.

“What happened with Master Jinn?” Cliegg asks him, he sighs gladly taking the seat in front of the console that Arl vacated for him.

“What’s a date?” Anakin asks.

“A date is when two people who like each other in a romantic fashion go do something together.  Dating someone means you do that regularly and are in a relationship.” Arlie replies.

“That’s a surprisingly good explanation.” Obi says approvingly.

“Had a similar talk with my Master a few months ago.” Obi laughs.

“Which one?”

“Yes.” They both laugh. “So, Qui.”

“You know I’ve never hidden anything from him, always been up front about everything and you know how hard that is for me.” Arl nods, “So, two months after he tells me this big secret he’s been keeping, I find out there is something else as well.” Arl grimaces.

“What?”

“He has a damned kid!” Everyone in the room freezes.

“What?” Arl repeats.

“Qui-Gon Jinn, has a daughter.”

“Are you sure it’s not just one of the strays he picks up?  Like the bird that’s been flying around the temple from his mission to Kashyyk?” Shmi questions carefully.

“Oh, that’s where the bird came from.  Thanks mum that’s been bugging me.” Arl interjects.

“Yes, I am sure!”

“Did he give you a reason for not telling you?”

“He didn’t see her, her mother didn’t want her having a father just to lose him when a mission goes bad.  He doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Can you see where he is coming from?  I mean you did not tell him about your biological family.”

“You try talking about stuff when you’ve watched your father murder your mother.”

“What?!” Anakin squeaks, Obi-Wan grimaces.

“Oops.”

“Anakin, Obi-Wan didn’t have a very nice father originally, that’s why he came to live with me and became my son.” Cliegg calmly tells the boy who still seems panicked.

“Is that why I don’t have a father?  Because he wasn’t very nice?” Ani asks Shmi, she and Arl both freeze awkwardly, Shmi looks to her daughter worriedly which makes Arl realise she’s crying.

“Yes Anakin, your father was not a nice man at all.” Shmi finally tells the boy.

“Did he hurt you Arleia?” Ani whispers.

“Anakin how about you, me, and mum have a big conversation later about this?” Arl suggests shakily, Shmi nods encouragement.  Neither wanted to tell the boy much but he deserves something.

“Okay.” He says hugging Arl who flinches at it before awkwardly hugging him back.

“Okay, now, we understand why you did not tell him Obi, but can you understand why he didn’t tell you.”

“Of course I can Arl, but the difference is, this is a big thing that he should have told me before we had been together for two and a half months.  Before that? Sure, none of my business.  But now?  We made this on a whole thing of any secrets being out in the open and they weren’t.  He only told me when he had no choice.”

“Which sucks, but why did he have no choice?”

“Her mother died, she’s coming here to live with him.  They have spoken before through messages very sporadically at the kid’s insistence to her mother but they don’t know each other well nor have they ever met.”

“This woman he had a child with has died?” Shmi asks worriedly, Obi smiles.

“This was a week ago, I spent a week comforting him before getting annoyed.” Cliegg smiles.

“You’re a good man Obi-Wan.” He tells his son who smiles.

“So, when does my niece in-law get here?” Arl asks earning a hit from Obi-Wan.

“Qui and I are not married!”

“Yet.” Anakin says with a grin, Obi just huffs.

“Dad I’m home!” Owen yells from the background of Cliegg’s end.

“Come here son.” He yells back, the ten-year-old come bounding over to the screen and notices them instantly.

“Obi! Ani! Shmi! Arlie!” He calls happily.

“Hey squirt.” Arl remarks.

“You’re a year and a half older than me and I’m taller than you!” He complains.

“Hey that year counts!”

“Owen, we need your opinion.” Anakin says changing the subject back.

“On what?”

“Whether Obi and Master Jinn are gonna get married.” Ani tells him, he grins.

“Well duh!”

“Will you guys stop deciding my life, next thing you know you’ll be planning a damn ceremony and you guys have already started haven’t you?”

“Yep.” Arl, Ani and Owen tell him, as does Shmi, Obi glares at the latter who smiles sweetly.

“If anyone is going to get married it’s those two!” Obi says pointing to Shmi and his dad, they both look shocked.

“Also duh.” Owen tells him.

“We’re planning that one too.” Anakin tells him.

“I, uh, what?” Cliegg stumbles awkwardly.

“Please tell me you two did not continue skirting around each other the entire month I was gone.” Arl pleads.

“I, okay I suppose we are doing this now.  We have decided to try something but it is quite long distance so it will be slow moving.  So, no wedding plans.” Shmi tells the kids sternly.

“Well that one is easy to fix.” Xanatos says as he lets himself into the living quarters.

“Hey Xan.” Everyone says in turn, he smiles back.

“What do you mean easy to fix?”

“Well, after my father died I inherited all of his things, there’s an apartment on Coruscant that I was just going to sell but it’s yours if you want it.  I was actually coming here to see if the lovely Shmi was interested in a job at the clothing shop I acquired.”

“He died like two or three years ago, why is this only coming up now?” Obi-Wan asks.

“Obi!” Cliegg chastises, Arl sniggers at the name.

“It’s a good question.”

“For various reasons I’ve only just been able to meet with his lawyer two days ago.”

“Oh that’s why you bugged out straight after the mission.” Obi guesses, Xan nods.

“So, apartment? Job?” Xan asks Cliegg and Shmi in turn.

“I’d love the job.” Shmi tells him with a smile.

“It’s yours.”

“I can’t accept an apartment from you Xanatos and I have no way to pay for it.”

“So, when you find a job you can put away a portion of your pay if you’d like?” Xanatos suggests, there was a mirth in his eyes that Arl instantly recognised as trouble.

“How much would I be paying you all together?” Cliegg asks.

“10 credits?” Xan suggests, Arl laughs.

“Xanatos!” Cliegg admonishes.

“What?  Jedi have no need for money, only reason I was even going to sell it was because I didn’t know anyone to give it to.  Gods know what I’d have done with the money anyway.”

“Just take it Dad you know he’s serious.” Owen tells him.

“Son, I...”

“Okay think of it this way, a while ago something very bad happened and for some time I was a very bad person.  During that time I attacked Obi-Wan, Arl, Dooku, and Qui-Gon.  Think of this as my penance.” Xanatos suggests.

“But Xan, you were literally under a mind control.” Obi-Wan points out not even mentioning the fact that it was not this version of him that attacked he and Qui-Gon.

“Yeah that’s why my penance is an apartment and not me watching over your kin for the rest of my days.” He tells him, “Not that I won’t do that anyway but hey, what’s kin for.  So, Cliegg?” The man sighs, knowing he’s lost.

“We would happily accept the apartment with the understanding that we owe you so very many favours.” Xan smiles.

“Only one, and it’s easy to do.  Have dinner with your kin at your new apartment when you arrive, and have a good time.  Anyway, Master Qui-Gon was panicking about something so I have to go see him, I’ll be seeing you soon I suppose.” He says before heading to the door, the room being rather amused at his words, knowing why Qui-Gon is panicking.

“Xanatos.” Cliegg calls, Xan walks back, “I’ll expect you to be free for that dinner then.” Xan smiles again before nodding and leaving.

“So that wedding.” Anakin says with a smirk.

“Anakin!”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A day after Cliegg and Xanatos made plans for Cliegg to move to Coruscant and Arl has sat through one of the most boring council sessions of her life, they have a meeting with the usual group.

“I just don’t understand the difference.” Depa says as she and the rest of the council file into the room and see everyone else seated and waiting.

“It’s Yarael, he’s been playing devil’s advocate for years, now no one is challenging us because we agree on everything.” Arl explains.

“Well, that’s certainly a change.” Obi grumbles, “Only time that happened in the other timeline was against my Padawan.” He says.

Garen is sitting in his seat looking extremely pissed off.

“What’s up with you?” Arl asks as she sits down between Mic and Quin.

“I don’t know!” He snaps, Qui-Gon sighs.

“Oh.” Arl says remembering his warning of mood swings.

“Remember your training Apprentice.”

“I know.” Garen says deflating in his chair, she also sees both of her Masters not looking at each other.

“And what is up with you two?”

“A difference of opinion on what constitutes agreeing to something.” Mace replies tersely.

“Hey!  I asked!  You said yes.”

“Very blatantly sarcastically.”

“You still didn’t say no.”

“Couply stuff, got it.  And why do you look so excited?” Arl asks Tahl who’s grinning like an idiot.

“Qui’s getting a visitor that I am oh so excited to meet.”

“You knew?” Obi asks, Qui flinches. “I suppose you do too then.” He says looking to Mic who nods.

“Of course we knew, we’ve known him since he was eight years old.”

“Fair enough.” Obi concedes.

“More couply stuff, are any couples actually getting along right now?”

“Bellan and Reeft.” Bant offers, Obi looks at Arlie panicked.

 _“I loved her Arlie, I_ _’m sorry, I_ _’m so sorry but I loved Bellan._ _”_ Arl started breathing heavily.

 _“I killed them Arlie, I killed them all but-but they killed her.  Gods Arlie they killed her._ _”_

“Arleia?” Obi-Wan calls in concern as he gets up to move closer.

“Obi.” She says in a small voice, he could tell she wasn’t seeing him.

 _“I used the force, made on ship fly into the other.  I-I used the dark side Arlie._ _”_

“Arl listen to me, you aren’t there.  Everyone is here, Bellan is here.” She barely hears Obi-Wan’s voice, doesn’t notice herself drop to her knees as she begins hyperventilating.

 _“…they deserved it Arls, THE BASTARDS DESERVED TO DIE!_ _”_

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” A voice begins to sing.

 _“Tell Garen I_ _’m sorry._ _”_

“You make me happy when skies are grey.” It sounds louder to her now.

 _“Who is this?_ _”_

 _“High General Aa, is General Reeft dead?_ _”_

“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you.” She can hear it’s Mace singing.

 _“Yeah, shot straight in the head, I_ _’m sorry._ _”_

“Please don’t take my sunshine away.” He finishes, she opens her eyes and sees she in laying with her head in her Master’s lap on the floor, others looking in concern but the only other person near her is Obi who is holding her hand.

“I, what?” Arl asks in confusion as she blinks.

“Panic attack.” Mace tells her but Obi shakes his head.

“Fragmented flashback.” Obi-Wan corrects, “Mic and I used to get them when certain parts of the war were mentioned during our time on Tatooine.”

“Don’t suppose I can convince you to sit through the force damned evaluation now can I?” Bellan asks as Arl sits up slowly, she lets out a breathy laugh.

“I think I more than owe you that now.” She responds as she wipes semi-dry tears from her face.

“Perhaps we should reschedule this meeting.” Ki-Adi suggests looking concerned.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Kid…” Mic starts saying.

“I’m like six years younger than you.  At our age, that is not enough to be able to call me kid.” Arl complains. “And I’m fine, really.  This is more important.”

“We are going to have a serious talk about your self-worth later.” Mace promises.

“Later then, for now I believe we all need a catch up.” She says as she takes a seat.

“Well no one can doubt your work ethic.” Valorum tells her, she smiles.  She, Dooku, and Quinlan then launch into their explanations of what happened for the month they were gone.  Quinlan just about threw up again when Arl explained the battle just thinking about it since she left out most details.  Dooku had literal tears in his eyes.

“You three got very attached to this village very quickly.” Saesee says suspiciously.

“That village very quickly became our own, that’s just their way.  Or it was at least.” Dooku tells them.

“So, what now, moving forward?  You had a plan?” Kit asks, Arl nods and lays out the paper she had brought with her that she and Dooku had been drawing and writing their idea on.

“Is this real paper?” Tahl asks surprised.

“It was common 13’000 years ago.” Dooku tells her.

“Okay so Ty and I looked into the village a lot, Ty more into their way of life while I looked into their way in the force.  Master Halvi showed me how they learn it and how they teach their younglings, Tyranus learnt an ancient jig.”

“Hey, I was the life of that party.” He complains.

“Yeah but more because of the mead you consumed than your dancing abilities.” Quin adds slightly too loudly.

 **“Lower the volume a tad Quin.** **”** Arl tells him, he smiles sheepishly.

“Sorry.” He says aloud at a more sedate volume.

“Anyway, we need the order to split into segments.  Sith, Jedi, and Custos to bridge the gap.  Each will have a slightly different job according to their beliefs.  If two planets are at war for example, The Jedi negotiate a ceasefire, the Sith protect those in the fighting and the Custos keep the Sith and Jedi from getting in each other’s way.  We can all imagine how quickly it would devolve so the Custos need to help the two work in tandem instead of against each other.”

“To protect the order from falling apart right?” Garen asks, Arl nods.

“Now, there is the danger of Dark Sith and Fallen Jedi, so we need a group filled with training from all three that are specifically trained to deal with such individuals.  My suggestion is converting the Shadows.” Arl tells them.

“The council would be made up of each, three from the Sith, three from the Jedi, three from the Custos, and three from the Shadows.  Ideally they have slightly less numbers and their identities be confidential. We want to keep uneven numbers so that there will never be a tie on votes, we hope that will make decision making easier and more efficient.” Dooku tells them.

“That’s twelve people Ty.” Mic points out, Dooku nods not even noticing the name.

“Yes, there would be a subsect in the Custos that has yet to be named.  Their sole purpose is protecting the force itself after we find out whatever it’s weakness is though Arl has a pretty interesting idea of what it may be.  Anyway, one person from the subsect Custos be on the council.  That leaves us at thirteen people.” He explains.

“This is quite the endeavour.” Plo tells them, they nod.

“If we go ahead with this, it will obviously be a long term plan but we would need to start soon.  Training from Jedi to Sith will be harder and take longer so we do them one at a time until the stigma surrounding the Sith dies down some more.  But for the Custos, especially given there is currently only one of me, we want to start with classes of a few people at a time.  It will be a lot easier to move from Jedi to Custos though still not simple.” Arl tells them.

“That is logical.” Ki-Adi agrees.

“Junie needs to be brought in if you want to convert the Shadows.” Obi tells Arl who nods.

“Did you just give the Master of Shadows a nickname?” Garen asks incredulously.

“I mean technically speaking Winni did.” Obi tells him, most people in the room had two different names now, one from the old timeline and one from here.  “It’s the first time she’s come up since the download so it slipped out, regardless Master Bordo needs to be incorporated.”

“Yes, I agree.  Little note there.” Arl says pointing to what looks to be a scribble.

“Arl that’s written in Huttese.”

“I was tired!” She defends.

“Anyway…what about the creche, do we have three of them?” Tahl asks, Dooku shakes his head.

“No, we have one in which the kids are taught neutrally about the Jedi, the Sith, and the Custos.  When they are old enough to become Padawans they pick one to specialise in and only Masters or Knights in that sect can take them as their Padawan.  The Shadows would keep an eye on Initiates, Padawans, Knights, and Masters, if they see someone they like they’ll approach them and it will be their choice if they join or not.” He tells them, Terza nods.

“I assume healers would be neutral?” She asks, Dooku nods.

“Would the Shadows be neutral?” Bant asks.

“We had not planned on it, we’re suggesting it be made up of all three and have one of each from there on the council, but ultimately that would be up to Master Bordo.” He tells her.

“How do we get Jedi willingly becoming Sith?  So many would class them as traitors, we would lose many members over this.” Bellan tells them, “Err…No offense Garen.” She says awkwardly, he waves her off though doesn’t look particularly happy.

“Also the public’s opinion on Sith is not great, though admittedly most do not know what they are beyond evil…again, no offense intended.” Valorum says to Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Garen.

“They hadn’t gotten that far on account of the village being attacked.” Quinlan admits after a pause of Dooku translating.

“We show them the difference.” Tholme tells them earning confused looks. “The Jedi I mean, we create a controlled environment, introduce the idea of not all Sith being bad.  Explain Obi’s condition, have him Sith out and then he and Dooku can talk about the differences.  Have them ask Garen questions about the training he’s undergoing and why he made this decision.  We make them understand that being a Sith is not a bad thing, just a different one.” Tholme observes his Padawan as he concentrates on something for a moment before smiling widely at him.

“Okay, enough is enough, what the fuck is going on with Quin?” Obi demands, Dooku doubles over laughing as Arl sniggers and translates, Quin chuckles.

“What was that?  A week and a half?” Quin asks Arl who nods, Dooku is too far gone with laughing.

“Hey we noticed a while ago but we figured we’d wait until you told us.” Tahl tells them, a few nodding.

“I noticed the second time I spoke to him, I also know what’s going on and what you and Tyranus have been doing.” Terza says looking at Dooku and Arl accusingly.  Arl smiles sweetly as Dooku attempts to stop laughing.

“So, Ty won the bet.” Quinlan says to Arl who nods.

“Guess I had too much faith in them.  Seriously what did you do when we weren’t there to help?” Arl asks him, he chuckles.

“Well, through the force if I knew when to focus and who on, but otherwise I just kind of nodded along.” He says smirking, she laughs, Dooku finally composes himself.

“So, what’s going on?” Mace asks expectantly.

“He’s deaf.” Tholme tells them, Quin looks surprised. “You’re my Padawan Quinlan, did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” He asks his Padawan who smiles widely.

“Once a Padawan, always a Padawan.” Tholme smiles at Quin and nods.

“How, why, what, huh?” Obi asks.

“It’s Maul’s fault really.” Quinlan tells them.

“And a bit my own.” Arl admits with a self-deprecating smile.

“No, it isn’t.  You warned us you had no idea what would happen and Quin withheld certain information.” Dooku tells her, she nods.

“It’s the dark energy right?” Garen asks, Arl nods.

“So, long ago people could do what they called ‘transferring’ from one place to another.  The further you travelled, the more energy it would take, and the more the travellers would be exposed to.  Going through the in-between, it takes a lot of aggressive pounding to get out of this universe with passengers.  Not to mention what’s in there waiting.” Arl says.

“Which is?” Dooku asks casually, making sure she doesn’t over think it first.

“I don…I uh, I don’t know.” Arl stutters looking confused.

“Yes you do, focus Arlie, you know what it is.” Quin tells her, looking her in the eyes, she looks away, twitching slightly.

“No, no I don’t, I don’t recognise the face, I don’t see it, I can’t-can’t see it.” She says before the room starts spinning and she passes out. “Beast…” She whispers unconsciously.

“What the hell?” Mic asks his former Padawan’s partners, Dooku looks at Quinlan expectantly whilst also glaring at him.

“Oh come on, I didn’t know that would happen!” Quin defends a little too loudly.

“Arl has issues recalling certain things, we noticed it on our mission but had not yet mentioned it to Arlie, we wanted to sneak information out of her as I tried to.  We were not, however, going to so blatantly lead her as Quinlan tried doing.  We weren’t sure what the consequences would be, now we know.” Dooku tells them, Quin has the decency to look sheepish. “She will be fine when she wakes, this is not the first time it has happened, only last time she inadvertently did it herself.”

“We planned to go have a look at it when we got back, through the mindscape.”

“Let’s just get her to the halls of healing so that I can check her over properly.” Terza tells them with a long suffering sigh.

Terza, Bellan, Mic, Dooku, and Quinlan all go down with Arl to the healer’s wing, the others quickly wrap up the meeting before Mace, Xanatos, Garen, and Tholme join them down there.

“How have none of you mentioned this?” Mic asks once Arl has been situated on a bed and monitors have been attached, Dooku and Quin exchange looks.

“To be perfectly honest?  We forgot.” Quin admits.

“When she wakes we’ll make sure she is still okay before we go into her mind and attempt to locate the problem.” Dooku tells them.

“Why would anyone willingly let someone into their minds?” Garen asks as he and the other late-comers enter the room.

“There have been no shields between the three of us since our first foray into the mindscape.”

“Can we stop talking about entering people’s minds?” Xanatos requests cringing.

“Arleia?” A small voice asks from behind them, they turn to see Anakin standing by the door.

“Ani, you shouldn’t be here.” Micah tells the boy who ignores him and walks over climbing onto the bed beside his sister and taking her hand.

“She’s all right Ani, she’ll wake soon.” Dooku tells the boy. “Can one of us help you with something?” The boy shakes his head.

“Thank you Master Dooku but, I needed Arlie.” He says before looking back to his sister. “You told me to come to you if it happened again Arlie, please wake up, I need your help.” He tells his sister, her grip on his hand tightens.

“All you gotta do is ask baby brother.” She says weakly as she tries to open her eyes.

“She wasn’t like this last time she woke up.” Dooku tells Terza when she sends an accusatory look his way.

“What’s wrong Ani?” She asks looking at her brother even as she blinks repeatedly, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Maybe this should…” Xanatos begins to say but quiets at Arl’s glare.

“It started again Arlie, I don’t wanna do anything bad again.” He tells her clearly very distressed, she gives him a comforting smile.

“Anakin, I need you to trust me okay?  I am going to enter your mind, I need you to lead me to him.”

“Arlie no!” Xanatos tells her when he realises what’s going on, he’s the first to do so.

“I am not leaving my brother like this Xan.”

“You are not going alone and Quin and Master Dooku have to deal with you soon!”

“I’ll do it.” Bellan offers, “I should probably know what this is like given I’m acting as two people’s mind healers now.” Arl nods to her.

“Then take a seat and follow my lead.” Arlie tells him, he nods, “Xan, catch them up, after we enter.” Xanatos agrees.  Arlie fights to remain awake as she enters a meditative state before guiding Bellan into the mindscape as she once did her partners.

 **_“Bellan?  Focus on giving yourself a physical form._ ** **_” Arl guides, Bellan does so with help from Arl who appears as her thirty-eight-year-old self._ **

**_“This is you grown up?  You look young._ ** **_”_ **

**_“I do not know what I look like at my true age, this is the oldest I have ever physically aged to.  Now do you feel the pull?  That_ ** **_’s Anakin trying to lead us, we need to follow it.  Do not get distracted by memories you see, you saw what that did to Quin.  And don_ ** **_’t get separated from me.  Shield your mind closely to everyone but me._ ** **_”_ **

**_“No shielding between us, right?_ ** **_” Arl nods._ **

**_“It can go back up when we inhabit our own minds again, Dooku, Quin, and I just decided not to._ ** **_”_ **

****

**_They follow the pull until they see a dark cloud and hear the whispery voice of_ ** **_…Wrath._ **

**_“She left you before, why wouldn_ ** **_’t she again?  Your mother is lying to you, they never loved you. Everyone is afraid of your strength and your power, but not me.  I_ ** **_’ll help you grow my dear boy._ ** **_”_ **

**_“ARLIE AND MUMMY LOVE ME AND SO DOES OBI AND XAN AND DOOKU AND QUIN AND QUI-GON AND CLIEGG AND OWEN AND MASTER PENN AND MASTER YODA AND MACE AND MIC._ ** **_” Arl and Bellan cover metaphysical ears, which obviously does jack shit, to lower the volume of Anakin defending them._ **

**_“Then where are they child?  Where are they when you need them most?_ ** **_” The voice whispers when Anakin stops yelling._ **

**_“We are right here._ ** **_” Arlie responds._ **

**_“Ah, hello Kitten._ ** **_” She refuses to flinch._ **

**_“Wrath, I warned you what would happen if you go near my brother._ ** **_” Arl tells him, Bellan flinches at her tone, Arl ignores it._ **

**_“Will you follow through though?  They_ ** **_’d never forgive you, you_ ** **_’d be just like your Papa. You know how much that hurts a child, to see the one they love the most become a monster.  Will you do that to Anakin?_ ** **_”_ **

**_“I_ ** **_’d do whatever it takes to save him._ ** **_”_ **

**_“Even if it meant hurting him more?_ ** **_” Arl doesn_ ** **_’t hesitate._ **

**_“There is a difference between protecting him and saving him._ ** **_” She says knowing now that what she did with Vader was protecting him, she should have saved him and prevented him from becoming what he did, she_ ** **_’d never put him through that again._ **

**_“The voice of experience as always, I tell you what.  Join me and I_ ** **_’ll leave him alone.  If not, I_ ** **_’ll take him and your precious Saviour, I_ ** **_’ll take your dear Lord Tyranus as well and all will kneel before me._ ** **_”_ **

**_“Arl don_ ** **_’t do it._ ** **_” Bellan begs, Wrath turns to him._ **

**_“Oh look, fresh meat?_ ** **_” Arl steps in front of Bellan,_ ** **_“Oh you are fond of this one aren_ ** **_’t you_ ** **_…are those traces of love I detect?_ ** **_”_ **

**_“Of course she loves me, I love her too, we_ ** **_’re kin!  We_ ** **_’re family._ ** **_” Bellan says to defend her friend, Wrath hisses through clenched teeth in fake sympathy._ **

**_“How much did that hurt to hear?_ ** **_” Wrath asks Arl who isn_ ** **_’t saying a word, Bellan catches on and turns to her friend, feeling the love and pain Arl feels thanks to the lack of shielding._ **

**_“You want me?  Come and get me, in the real world.  Stop hiding in the mindscape and face me!_ ** **_” Wrath smiles sweetly at her._ **

**_“Your wish is my command._ ** **_” He says before leaving Anakin_ ** **_’s mind._ **

**_“Come on._ ** **_” Arl says to Bellan._ **

**_“Arl wait, what just happened?_ ** **_”_ **

**_“Come on!_ ** **_” Arl insists, grabbing Bellan by the hand and shoving her back into her own mind._ **

“Argh.” Bellan groans as she opens her eyes and realises she’s on a med bed.

“Bells?” Arl asks as she opens her eyes and looks over, worry clear in her eyes and something else, something Bellan has seen before and could never name, something she recognises now, love.

“Oh Arlie.” Bellan says, Arl glares at her.

“I do not want your pity Bellan.” Arl says to her angrily, Bellan just looks at her patiently.

“We have to talk about this Arl.”

“Anakin, how’s it now?” Arl asks completely ignoring her friend and looking at her brother still seated beside her.

“It’s stopped, thank you Arlie, Bellan.”

“Don’t thank us yet, we now have a Sith lord likely coming here.” Bellan says looking accusingly at Arl.

“Well you guys wanted to find him, and he’s not going to come here.  He’s not that stupid.”

“He deliberately pushed you to focus on how much you wish to protect your brother and the rest of us, that seems pretty stupid to me.”

“Arl what did you do now?” Mace asks rubbing his hands over his face.

“Thought you were kicking that habit?”

“I gave up, I’ll deal with it when you stop giving reasons to stress.”

“Fair enough, I may have challenged Wrath to come get me himself in the real world.”

“Oh Arlie.” Garen says with a sigh.

“Hey Anakin?” Bellan says, the boy looks to her, “Healer Terza, Master Tahl, Bant, myself, and Garen should all be on that list as well.” His face lights up as he goes over and hugs her.

“I love you too.”

“Anakin was listing people who loved him to prove Wrath wrong when he said none of us did.” Arl says in explanation, Mic smiles widely realising he was on it since Bellan didn’t say his name.

“Why did you challenge the Sith Lord, Arl?” Quinlan questions when Dooku catches him up on the conversation after he realises neither of them had been translating.

“He threatened Xan, Dooku, and Anakin.  Plus, he called Bellan fresh meat.” Arl says as her eyes start drooping.

“The creepier part was when he called you Kitten.”

“He always does that.” Xanatos tells Bellan who shivers at the idea.

“Maybe next time don’t threaten or challenge anyone til you can stay awake ‘kay?” Anakin suggests.

“Good call baby brother, good call.  Hey, no one tell Ben.” She says before passing out again.

 

A few hours later Arlie wakes to see Cliegg, Shmi, Owen, and Mic seated around her, for a moment she was concerned she was back on Tatooine after the war and has dreamt it all, then she realises how young they are and Mace was asleep against Mic’s side with Mic’s arm around him to keep him from falling.

“Someone’s got a photo of that yeah?”

“What’s a photo.” Owen asks her as everyone else perks up at her being awake.

“A holo.” Garen says as he, Obi-Wan, and Anakin enter the room, Garen carrying tea on a tray for everyone.

“Bellan find out?” Obi asks.

“She knows what’s there, she doesn’t know reasons or explanations.”

“She’s insisting you have your evaluation this week.” Garen tells her.

“Good luck to her.” Mace mumbles as he wakes and cuddles into Mic’s side, Mic smiles holding in a laugh at the display.

“He’s cuddly when he’s sleepy.” Arl tells them, “When I was younger and had a bad dream or a panic attack at night I’d sleep in his bed and be an octopus’ cuddle toy.” She tells them, they chuckle.

“Sounds like you had a good father after all.” Shmi says looking at Arl who smiles happily.

“Yes, I did.” Mace meanwhile has his face practically submerged in the tea Garen brought, “Actually I had two.” She says looking at Mic who smiles at her and reaches out with his free arm to grab her hand.

“As adorable as this is, I brought you some clothes. You’re going to want to get changed quickly.” Obi says dropping some clothes into her lap, among them was her brown leather jacket which brought a smile to her face.

“Where are we going?” She asks moving to sit up.

“Nowhere until you are cleared.” Mace says with a stern look at Obi who smiles unapologetically.

“Consider yourself kidnapped then, Qui’s…guest…arrives in a few minutes.  Thought you may want to be there.  I figured you would be too but Qui-Gon is only allowing Arl because he trusts her to remain calm and knew neither of the boys would allow either of you to go without them.” Obi-Wan tells Shmi and Cliegg who nod in agreement.

“What about Mic?” Xanatos asks confused.

“We decided Tahl would go, be a comforting presence from the start.” Micah responds as Arl moves to the fresher and gets changed.

“All right, let’s go.” Arl says to Obi-Wan just as Terza is about to enter the room, Xanatos sees and moves to intercept making up some lie about feeling ‘under the weather’ and a list of symptoms she was 95% sure he actually had and was ignoring before submitting himself to various tests.  Arl really loved her friend in that moment.

 

“Just in time my love.” Qui-Gon says to Obi as the two arrive, he smiles and takes his hand.

“This is so exciting!” Tahl says grinning widely.

“Do try not to scare the kid will ya?” Arl requests of Tahl, “You know I never asked, how old is this daughter of yours?”

“Fifteen.”

“Fifteen and just lost her mother?  That’s gotta be so hard.” Tahl says, everyone nods in agreement.

“That’s about how old I was when my dad and step-mum died in a car crash.” Arlie tells them sadly.

“So now that we’ve covered things we are not going to say in front of my daughter, can we change the subject?” Qui-Gon requests as the transport arrives.

“What’s her name?” Arl asks.

“Tell you what, I’ll just introduce you.” Qui says as he spots her, having been sent pictures of her over the years, he’d recognise her anywhere. He waves at her when she looks around, she smiles and walks over.  The girl had waist length platinum blonde hair but she had her father’s eyes, luckily not his nose.

“Father?” She questions he nods, she seems relieved and throws her arms around him, “This isn’t too awkward is it?” She asks, he chuckles.

“Not at all Karr.” He smiles when she steps away and wipes away a stray tear that falls down her face. “Karr this is…” he begins to say.

“No wait, I think I got this.  You would be my Father’s life-partner, Obi-Wan Kenobi, right?” She asks pointing to Obi who nods and bows in greeting, “And you are Master Tahl, one of Father’s best friends since childhood?” Tahl nods and also bows. “Well I’m two for two, now you must be Obi-Wan’s sister right? Arl Aa?” Arl nods.

“A pleasure to meet you.” Arl says bowing.

“I’m Karrya Jinn-Dye.”

“I am warning you now Miss Jinn-Dye, there is a group of people wanting to meet you and another group wanting to know who Qui’s mysterious visitor is.  We’ll keep them away as long as we can though.” Arl says, Karrya smiles at her.

“I appreciate that but I think I’d like to meet them, and please, it’s just Karr.” She says smiling at her father who offers her an arm as he picks up her bag with his other arm, she takes it but also steals the luggage from his arm with a smile.

“I like her.” Tahl says to Arl when the other three walk ahead a bit.

“I am a little concerned how she’s going to react when she finds out her father is a Sith.”

“Qui said she already knows, always has, as did her mother.” Arl looks surprised.

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.  Something is bugging me though.” She says as the two walk towards the temple.

“About Karr?”

“I don’t know yet.”

 

They left Karr with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan for the night, Garen staying with Mic, Mace, and Arl to give her a chance to settle in before meeting everyone at dinner the next day, kindly being hosted by Mic and Mace as per usual.  When Arl gets back, the three are playing Sabacc around the coffee table while sitting on the floor.  She walks in to join them and closes the door behind her, the three look up in alarm.

“What?” She asks them worried something had happened.

“You shut the door.” Mic says, Arl looks back, genuinely surprised to see that she did.

“Yes, I suppose I did.” She says looking at it oddly, she felt marginally better with it closed though and leaves it there as she goes to her room to do some paperwork for the council.

When she goes to join them for dinner, she automatically shuts the once again open door as she walks past and grabs her plate before sitting with her back to the couch and facing the door, the others look at her weirdly before joining her.

“You want to tell us what is going on?” Mic asks, she shrugs.

“I’ve no idea honestly, I just…something doesn’t feel right.  I’m missing something and it’s important and so damn obvious.”

“Is it possibly that the door is closed?” Garen asks, she kicks him.

“No jack ass, I have no explanation for the door.  But for now, let’s just keep it closed.”

 

The next morning Arlie wakes up to find two of her brothers, her mother, and her soon to be step-father in her quarters, apparently she had slept in.  This does not really surprise her given how terribly she slept the night before.

“I’m going to go speak to Ty about something.” Arl says without greeting anyone and leaves while closing the door behind her.  She hurries to her partner’s quarters and enters since she was keyed in and could enter at any time. “Ty, I need to talk to you…” Arl says before taking in the sight before her.

“Shit.” Dooku says pulling away from Quinlan who he had been making out with against the wall.

“What the fuck, no, no.  I do not want to know, I just.  Erghh.” She complains leaving the room.

“Arl, wait.” Dooku says hurrying after her.

“You know I don’t care if you two are sleeping together but I thought we all agreed not to keep anything from each other.”

“We did but honestly, how does that even come up in conversation?”

“You can’t have just said, ‘Hey Arls, I’m fucking our partner, just thought I’d catch you up?’” She asks annoyed.

“Ummmm…” Jey-Sahl says from the elevator that just opened beside them, a group of initiates looking at them in shock just as Quin came around the corner.

“Arlieeeee.” He says trailing off when he sees the audience, “Imma just go.” He says walking the other way.

“As are we.” Jey-Sahl says hitting the door closed button and making the two of them take the stairs.

“Okay I suppose there isn’t a way to do so, but we’re talking now.  So what is it?  Casual? Are you dating?”

“You are no longer wanting information, now you want gossip.” Dooku accuses, she grins and nods. “Casual, it’s only been going on a couple of months and probably won’t be for much longer.”

“Why?” she asks in concern.

“Since talking to us about Maul, seeing my leg sends him into a panic attack.”

“He never did explain the leg.” Arl realises as they exit the stair well and see Siri Tachi pointing her lightsaber at Obi-Wan’s throat…no, oh shit. That’s Sohn’s throat, and his lightsaber is in Siri’s other hand. “Siri, stand down.” Arl tells her.

“He’s a Sith Master Aa.”

“Padawan Tachi I am ordering you to stand down.” It probably did not help the situation that Sohn was laughing.  She does as she’s told, though she does not power down her lightsaber, merely lowers it to her side.  “Dooku, deal with Darth Sohn will you, don’t let him near Karrya.  Siri come with me.” Her instructions are followed immediately as Arl leads a confused Siri down to the council chamber and uses the console on her chair to alert the council of an emergency meeting.

When they begin arriving Arl instructs Siri to wait outside.

“Why is my Padawan outside Master Aa?” Adi asks when she walks in, luckily the last to arrive.

“Should we not wait for Kenobi and Jinn?” Saesee asks.

“Tachi just met Darth Sohn.” Arl explains basically answering both questions.

“Is she all right?” Adi asks worriedly.

“She’s fine, actually she had her lightsaber pointed at his throat, him pinned against a wall, and she had robbed him of his lightsaber.  I do not know the circumstances for all of it but that is how it ended.  If anything I believe we are lucky he is not dead.”

“I realise that we know he is mostly on our side but given that most don’t not, should it not worry us that she did not follow the code?” Plo questions, Arl shakes her head.

“She once dealt with Xanatos while he was under Wrath’s influence, given how much we’ve stepped up on defence and shielding, it’s likely she worried he was also being controlled.  Especially given how well she knows Little Obi, imagining him becoming a Sith voluntarily would be quite difficult.  I’m sure you have all been there.”

“But not you? War?” Arl considered her words carefully.

“I was under a lot of pressure in the war, I saw many things that still haunt me, but I never fell.  That was miracle enough, but to have the man constantly on the front lines.  Never get a break, always pushed beyond his limits and basically looking after two Padawans while also taking a seat on the council and dealing directly with Dooku and Grievous more than anyone else, and he never fell.  I do not know if that made it easier or harder to believe that he finally snapped.”

“So, what do we do now?  Ask the girl to not mention to anyone her friend is a Dark Sith?” Kit asks, Mace sighs.

“We could just tell her the truth.  We cannot keep this to ourselves forever, bringing more people into the fold wouldn’t be the worst thing.  We need to tell Master Bordo anyway, why not kill two birds with one stone?” Mace suggests.

“Or we could kill them all.” Arl mutters earning many a worried look, “Sorry, I hate birds.” Adi chuckles.

“Why?” Depa asks bewildered.

“I have a phobia of, well, most living things actually.  But birds, they get me nearly every time.  That and submarines but…anyway.” Arl says with a shudder, “We should bring Master Penn in as well.  If we are serious about this than it needs to start from creche onwards.”

“I agree, with bringing Master Penn in, not the birds or subwhatevers.” Mundi says.

“I say we holocomm Valorum so that he can be here for this, we get Tachi, Bordo, and Penn in here, tell the three of them together.” Depa tells the others.

“Then the Chancellor we will comm.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“This is a joke, right?” Siri Tachi asks, Adi smiles sympathetically at her Padawan.

“I am afraid not.” Siri looks at everyone in the room in turn, sees their serious expressions, and then shocks everyone.

“How can I help?”

“What?” Depa asks in surprise.

“Well I realise you had not planned to tell me but regardless I now know, you may as well take advantage of that.  This is a huge undertaking, there must be something I can do to help.”

“Can I keep her?” Junahl asks Adi who sighs.

“At least wait until she’s Knighted.”

“I have had my eye on her since she was an initiate, you are lucky I waited this long before bringing it up.” Adi glares, “As you wish,” Bordo gives in.

“If this is how the council wishes to precede then that is how it will be done in the creche.  I will require someone, preferably either Master Tahl or Master Dooku, to catch me up on the information I am missing.  I need to know what it is I am teaching these children, then I can also instruct the other Masters in the creche,” Jey-Sahl tells them, they all look quite shocked again, “Masters, may I remind you that among those I have raised since they were babes or very young are Garen Muln, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Bant Eerin, Qui-Gon Jinn, Tahl, Micah Giiett, and the latest, Anakin Skywalker.  There is very little anyone could do that would surprise me given that I saw an eight-year-old set a window on fire.  A _window_ on _fire_.”

“You still haven’t gotten over that?” Arl asks amused.

“Of course I have not gotten over that, he set a blasted window on fire, there was nothing flammable there to burn!”

“Master Penn, three members of our order went back 13’000 years into the past for a month,” Mace tells her.

“Yes, but Master Windu, the _window_ , it’s the creche, everything is plastic.  Sure, plastic melts, it does not _catch on fire_.” Arl chuckles.

“In this new Order, if the Shadows are to be a mix of all of these…sects, then I would recommend I stay neutral to it all.  To oversee how they work together in training and when forced to deal with a member of any of the sects.”

“Wise that is,” Yoda agrees.

“This is really happening?  Sith are like, accepted now?” Siri asks still surprised by what they were proposing.

“What would you choose Padawan?” Adi asks, “Custos, Jedi, or Sith?”  She knows her Padawan, she will not be afraid to speak her mind.

“Honestly?  Custos.”

“Why?” Bordo asks curiously but without judgement.

“Because it is in part, a bit of both, and I do not like closing myself off from options.  You never know what may happen after all.  Case in point, this whole idea,” She answers, Junahl looks to Adi.

“Mine.”

“Wait until Knighthood.  In the meantime, Arl, how would you feel about my Padawan joining your yet to be decided class?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

“I’d still be your Padawan though, right?” Siri asks her Master who nods, “Cool.”

“Well, this went better than expected, if only your entire Order would react this way,” Valorum tells them.

“If only,” Arl agrees.

“My gods, we got through an entire session and we only digressed for a minute about a window, could it be?  Are we getting good at our jobs?” Plo asks, the council laughs, the other three look confused while Valorum looks highly amused.

“Do you guys fail that often?” Siri asks, not sure if she is overstepping, but the meeting did appear to be finished.

“I’m not sure we’ve made it through one for almost five years,” Mace says, Arl does a quick calculation before turning to him.

“Hey! Don’t blame me for that!  I try to stay on topic!” Arl defends earning herself some incredulous looks, “I mean I did not say I succeeded.”

“How you ran a war when you can never focus on the task at hand is beyond me.”

“I’ll have you know that I was the one that always got us back on topic!  Mainly because the one time we went off of it was…not something I wanted to talk about at the time.”

“I’m sorry, ran a war?” Junahl asks, Arl nods. “What happened in this other timeline?” They had been given the basics but not specific information.

“Well, a war for one,” Mace tells her.

“I do not recall you being one for sarcasm, Windu,” She tells him.

“I do believe that was sass more than sarcasm.”

“Are you always like this now?”

“Not always, sometimes I’m sarcastic too.”

“So clearly they used to date,” Arl says to Siri who nods and looks amused, and intrigued, she’s a major gossip.  As are most Jedi really.

“I did not know Jedi could date,” Siri admits.

“Sweetheart, Jocasta Nu still dates people.  No one listens to that rule.  Some choose not to date but it is not because of the rule,” Arl replies.

“Wait, Master Nu is romantically involved with someone?” Ki-Adi asks surprised.

“Not anymore that I know of.”

“Who was she involved with?” Plo asks.

“Why do you want to know?”

“I am notoriously nosy.”

“Fair enough, she and Ty were dating a while back.”

“I did not see that one coming,” Depa admits.

“You think that’s bad?  I just walked in on Ty and Quin making out,” Arl says with a shudder.

“And Ty is?” Junahl asks feeling she is missing something.

“Darth Tyranus, Dooku.”

“If I may ask, what is Master Jinn’s Sith name?”

“Darth Anarch.”

“What about Mulny’s?” Siri asks, Arl snickers.

“Mulny?  That’s fantastic, um he does not have one yet, they have to earn it you see.”

“When we have classes running for this, will the Master, or Lord I suppose, in charge name them?” Jey-Sahl asks.

“I do not know that anyone is that creative, no their individual Master’s would do that.”

“One more question, is this what the council does?  Deals with things for a quarter of the time they are in here and then sits around and gossips?” Bordo asks.

“Lately, yes,” Mace says pointedly looking at Arl.

“Your comment about not getting off topic, Master Koon, was incorrect.  This conversation opened with a question that still has not been answered,” Siri informs him, he motions for her to continue, “Did Obi-Wan choose to be a Sith?”  Everyone seems to instinctively look to Arl for an answer.

“I am afraid you’d have to ask him that, I was a bit preoccupied being dead and time travelling and what not.  Also, I’d rather not think about it.”

“Why?  It seems like the kind of thing you guys think about a lot.”

“There is a difference between Jedi willingly becoming Sith and Darth Wrath twisting my brother’s mind until he gave in and knelt before him a few years after doing the same to another brother of mine.  Or worse, he really did choose it and knelt before the man who-who…” Arl trails off looking at her lap, “Either way, I’d rather not think about what he went through to get to this point.”

“Tomorrow Arl, you are sitting through that darn evaluation tomorrow or I will personally pull you from the active duty roster,” Mace tells her, she rolls her eyes.

“Yes Master.”

“If nothing else there is then adjourn we should.”

“Got a hot date Yoda?” Arl asks teasingly, he smiles back in the same way.

“Your business youngling, it is not.”

“Ohhhhh, a girl needs a name.”

“Okay, everyone dismissed, Arl let’s go see if your mother needs help with dinner,” Mace tells her.

“But I helped with lunch!”  Arl complains as she follows him out of the room.

“You called an emergency meeting and made us skip lunch.”

“Exactly, no work required.”

“You are a kriffing nightmare.”

“My kitchen ban is still on anyway.”

“How did that even start?  Last timeline I mean?”

“I’ve no idea, I know G did not really crack down on it until I accidentally threw a pan out of the window.  Qui-Gon banned me after I burnt his kitchen, that stuck through Obi-Wan and Anakin.  I think it may have been my first pancake demonstration?  I have no clue.”

“Well given your first pancake demonstration in this timeline I would not be surprised.”

“I am not 100% sure but I think my demonstration may have been blocked on account of the fact my ban was already in place…”

“In any case, you are a mess and so very banned.”

“So, no helping with dinner?”

“So, you get to watch Anakin and Owen while we cook.”

“They’re eight and ten, they can watch themselves for an hour!”

“What is it you actually want to do?”

“I don’t know, go out, see Coruscant at night.”

“No!”

“I am not a child Mace, I can look after myself.”

“It is not you I am worried about Arl, I know you are responsible.  It’s every other person out there I don’t trust, like it or not you are still twelve years old.”

“You can’t just lock me in the temple Master.”

“Arlie, you were gone for a month, stop being dramatic.”

“It’s one night!”

“You know how much trouble your brothers could get into in that amount of time!”

“So, why can’t Obi watch them?”

“Well for one, he did the entire time you were gone until Sheev went missing, for another his soon to be daughter in law is visiting, and lastly, I asked you to do it.”

“But Master…”

“Arl we have guests tonight anyway.”

“Ones I do not want to be there for.”

“Why?”

“I get a weird feeling from Karr.”

“Usually when you get weird feelings from people you stick to them like glue.”

“I do not know why there’s a difference here Mace.”

“You are still not going.”

“I’m not a Padawan anymore!”

“Knighted or not you will always be my Padawan Arleia, you are just going to have to accept that I will always do what I can to keep you safe.”

“Arghh!” Arl exclaims before storming into her room and slamming the door.

“How much of that conversation happened in here?” Mace asks, suddenly realising he was standing in his living room.

“Only since ‘we have guests tonight’,”  Mic tells him, coming up and wrapping his arms around his waist to lean his chin on his shoulder, “What was that about?”

“You remember what we were saying about Arlie’s brain still being her physical age and sometimes that affects her?”

“You think that’s what’s happening?”

“I think she’s twelve next week and we are in for an interesting few years.” Mic groans and puts his forehead on Mace’s shoulder instead of his chin.

“So basically, what you are saying is, ‘Arghh, teenagers!’” Garen asks, Mace nods.

“Should someone go talk to her?” Owen asks.

“No, give her some breathing room,” Cliegg tells his son who nods sadly, Garen notices and drags Anakin and Owen over to play sabacc, he still sucks but Owen is teaching him to play properly.

“So, which one of us is going in to talk to her after she’s calmed down?” Mic questions when only Shmi, Mace and Cliegg are listening.

“I’m going to ask this only once.  What is going on with my daughter’s age?” Shmi demands after pulling the four of them into the kitchen area for some semblance of privacy.

“She hasn’t told you?” Mace asks surprised, Shmi shakes her head.

“Depa once told me she thought she was older than she looked, I’ve not heard a word on the subject since.” Mic ad Mace exchange looks.

“Lady Skywalker, if Arl hasn’t told you it really is not our place to.”

“Then I guess it is down to one of you,” Shmi says walking out of the kitchen.

“Do either of you have to?  If Arl is older than she is then she doesn’t need to be parented, does she?” Cliegg asks trying to keep up with the small amount of information he does have.

“Cliegg, in your experience what do teenagers do?”

“They push boundaries, see how far they can go before you pull them back in and then they push further.  They try to be adults even though they are not.”

“Arl may be an adult but physically she isn’t.  In temple that hardly ever becomes a problem, but out there all people are going to see is a twelve-year-old.  Even not considering that, Healer Terza told us a while ago that her brain chemistry will stop her being able to act the way she remembers she should, that it would get frustrating and she would react to that frustration as a child would and likely act out in some way.  I think you are right, she does not need to be parented, but she does need to be guided in the right direction when this sort of things happens,” Mace tells him, Cliegg nods.

“Sounds like we found the right person to me,” He says with a smile, Mic nods.

“Your situation, you should resolve it.”

“Well, can’t go worse than when Depa was thirteen,” Mace replies with a sigh.

 

Two hours later everyone has arrived and Shmi is putting food out, Mic goes to let Arl know and knocks on her door.

“Arl?” He asks opening the door.

“Yeah Mic?” She asks quietly.

“Foods ready, you okay?” He asks coming in and sitting next to her when he hears her sniffling.

“You know how we always say that the you guys from the other timeline and you guys now are completely different people?” Mic nods, “Sometimes I miss those people.” Mic puts an arm around her.

“Arl, they were your family, of course you miss them.  I imagine being around us must make it pretty hard to deal with sometimes, but you know that we are always here for you, and if there is anything we can do to help we will do it.  You aren’t ever alone.”

“I know just, that argument with Mace made me think of an argument I had with Winni, it was completely different so I have no idea why it reminded me of it but it did and I just…” She trails off.

“What was the argument about?”

“I wasn’t letting him teach me to be a Jedi, I thought I was right and wouldn’t hear any differently without arguing about it.  It didn’t help that often I was right, it meant that when I was wrong I wouldn’t accept it, or even listen to his opinion on things.  We were yelling and he asked me why I was even here because he had no idea what it was I wanted from him.” Mic frowns, that does not sound like Mace.  It surprised him sometimes how different people really were in the other timeline, “I said something about letting the galaxy burn to protect my brother, and that is exactly what happened.  Now I have to go out there and see my little brother, pretend that I haven’t watched him murder Garen, that I didn’t see him stand over a pile of the younglings he slaughtered, that I didn’t practically ask him to kill me, that I didn’t try to kill him.  I have to sit and eat with people that I sent to their deaths in a war we should not have even been fighting.  I have to face my Mum and Cliegg and Owen and you and Obi-Wan knowing that I abandoned you all for someone who did not want to be saved.  But it isn’t even you guys, because you are completely different people.”

“No one is expecting you to be okay Arlie…” He begins to say.

“I am.  I made an agreement with myself, I’d get through this.  I’d fulfil my duty and then I would curl up with my brothers, Garen and Xan and cry for three days straight.  Then I’d curl up with you and Mace and sleep for a week,” Arl tells him, he chuckles and holds her tighter.

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

“Hey, Knight Aa right?” Karr double checks when she and Mic join the others.

“Actually, it’s Master now,” Arl tells her, she looks surprised. 

“Yes, Arlie was offered a place on the council a few days ago,” Qui-Gon tells his daughter.

“Wow that’s big, sorry just, you seemed young to be Knighted let alone be on the Council.  At least from what Father has told me.” Arl smiles sweetly.

“Well, I’m good at what I do I suppose.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard.  Your brother talks about you a lot,” Karrya tells her, Obi looks awkwardly at his food when Arl glares at him.

“Well you are kind of central to my life Arl, 90% of our stories feature you in some way.”

“There was a whole thirteen years before we met, nearly fourteen.”

“Yes, no need to remind me how close to fourteen I was at the time,” Obi says, Arl frowns.

“Sorry Obi.”

“What’s wrong with being fourteen?” Karrya asks, confused.

“You age out if you haven’t been taken as a Padawan by fourteen,” Garen explains.

“Cutting it a bit close there, Father, don’t you think?”

“I hadn’t met him yet, nor was I looking for a Padawan.”

“How did you meet then?”

“Actually, I believe Arl introduced us,” Qui-Gon says with an amused look.

“How did everyone else meet their Padawans/Masters?” Karrya asks.

“Arl convinced me to go and talk to Master Tahl,” Bant tells her, Tahl looks surprised.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm, I was watching you from the other side of the room attempting to get the courage to go say hi when she convinced me to just go do it.”

“Well, Master Dooku and I did not meet through Arl at least,” Xan tells her.

“No but she is the reason he was your Master,” Obi points out.

“True, I guess our stories really do all include you in someway.”

“I wasn’t even born when Doo and Qui-Gon met,” Arl says, Qui-Gon laughs.

“True, once upon a time we took Padawan’s through Master Yoda’s manipulation instead of Arlie’s.”

“Master Yoda is in charge of the Order, right?” Karrya asks.

“He’s the Grandmaster of the Order, Uncle Moo Moo is the Head of the Order,” Obi explains, Arl and Garen immediately sit up straighter.

“Oh no,” Mace says dropping his head into his hands.

“Uncle Moo Moo?” Arl asks Obi-Wan.

“Yeah, Father used to call him Moo Moo when they were kids, he hated it so naturally that’s what Father brought us up calling him.”

“That is amazing, Master Moo Moo,” Garen says looking at Mace innocently.

“Why would you do this to me.”

“Because it is your fault everyone calls me Little Obi,” He tells his Uncle with a glare.

“Actually, that’s my fault,” Arl admits with a smile.

“So, the next time you claim his stories don’t all have you in them, we’re all going to remind you of this moment,” Karrya says teasingly, Arl laughs.

“Okay, why do you keep looking at me like that?” Quin demands of Depa who has been periodically looking at him with a bewildered expression.

“No, nothing, no reason, no,” Depa says quickly.

“Padawan, that was possibly the least diplomatic thing you’ve ever said,” Mace tells her jokingly.

“Oh, thank you for your feedback Master Moo Moo,” Depa mocks.

“Never at work,” Mace says sternly while resigning to his fate.

“Of course not, unlike your other Padawan, I know how to be professional.”

“What is it, gang up on Arl day?  I don’t know where you both got the idea that I can’t handle a kriffing meeting but 80% of the time when we go off track, it’s his fault and the other 20% it’s Plo’s.”

“Hey now, I take up at least 10% of that,” Quin defends, “Now can we get back to the topic at hand, why were you…oh…Arlie!” He says sending an accusing look her way, she smiles sweetly at him.

“Yes, my dear partner?”

“You told her!”

“I may have mentioned it during the Council session.” Dooku chokes on his drink.

“Arl!”

“I’m sorry, but there weren’t many people there anyway.”

“Who?” Quin demands.

“Just Yoda, Depa, Adi, Ki, Plo, Saesee, Kit, Mace, Siri, Junahl,…and Valorum.”

“YOU TOLD THE GRAND CHANCELLOR OF THE REPUBLIC!?” Quin yells.

“Told him what?” Qui-Gon asks confused.

“Nothing,” Dooku and Quin say quickly, a second later Xanatos starts laughing, Dooku shoots his former Padawan a glare that silences him.

“Can we never get through a pleasant meal without you three arguing about something?” Shmi sighs, Cliegg smiles at her.

“You’d be bored and worry they were dying dear.”

“Besides the point.”

“We don’t argue that much,” Arl defends, “We didn’t argue when we went to Telos IV.”

“What about when I tried to name the mission and Dooku got annoyed?” Quin asks.

“We only argued once when we went to Telos IV,” Arl corrects, “Okay, what about when we went to the Mindscape?” Arl suggests.

“Not the best example of us getting along Arl,” Dooku reminds her.

“Oh yeah…well…we didn’t on our last missio…oh wait.  Man, we do not get along well.”

“You work brilliantly together though,” Xanatos points out.

“Yes, that cannot be denied,” Tahl tells them, “And you never argued about research when we were translating Ch’blanc.”

“Arl and I didn’t but as I recall, Quinlan called it boring and started a minor tiff with Arl,” Dooku responds.

“We can get along though,” Quin tells them.

“Go a week without arguing and I’ll believe you,” Bant tells them.

“Fine, we will,” Arl tells her, Dooku nods, Quin hits Dooku and shrugs portraying confusion.

“What?” He asks, Quin gestures to his ears.

“What did you guys just agree to?” He asks not since both Arlie and Dooku had not translated, too focused on defending themselves.

 ** _“_** ** _Not arguing for a week,_** ** _”_** Dooku tells him through the bond.

“Oh, yeah we can do that.”

“Every time you argue the week restarts, if you succeed I will give you 50 credits,” Garen tells them.

“Sure,” Dooku says, Arl nods, a second later Quin does too.

“He’s deaf, they tell him through a mental bond what is being said, when they remember to,” Qui-Gon tells his daughter who looks at him in confusion.

“Well, sometimes he can use the force to know what people are saying but he has to know who to focus on and is still learning.”

“So, this is a recent thing?  Sorry is that rude to ask?” She asks looking at Quin who, after a few seconds smiles.

“Not at all, I lost my hearing on the last mission Arl, Dooku, and I went on.  So, it was only a month and a half ago.”

“I’m still sorry about that,” Arl says grimacing.

“It wasn’t your fault Arl,” Quin reminds her now focusing on her with the force.

“Kind of was, I didn’t warn you.”

“Nor did I.  It wasn’t your fault.”

“And the week restarts,” Bant mutters.

“That wasn’t an argument!” Arl defends.

“It kind of was,” Dooku tells her.

“Oh shut up,” She groans.

“Restart,” Garen tells her.

“Not, it’s fine guys, come on we can get along,” Quin tells them a moment later a little too loudly.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to speak to them in this mind, mental bond thingy and have them translate?  It’s gotta be creepy speaking and not be able to hear your own voice.  Plus, then people would know that without them you may not hear them,” Karrya asks.

“Huh…” Arl says before telling Quin who considers it, “He says that makes a lot of sense, thank you for the suggestion.”

“So, guys, you two?  Really?” Xanatos asks, Dooku groans.

“I thought we moved on from that.”

“You guys keep complaining about conversations getting side-tracked, I’m merely bringing us back on topic.”

“You walked into that one,” Arl tells him.

“Yes, yes I did.”

“Quin says ‘see we can agree,’” Arl says with a chuckle.

“Only the entirety of the week minus a minute to go,” Garen replies.

“Stop looking at me like that Padawan!” Dooku tells Xan who laughs.

“I apologise Master, I just didn’t see that coming.”

“Well it’s over now anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

“Too complicated,” Arl replies earning odd looks, “Quin,” She explains, “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.”

“There’s got to be a middle ground of some kind,” Tahl points out.

“Sign language?” Arl suggests earning odd looks, “Do you not have that here?”

“Nope, what is it?  Carrying signs around?” Bant asks, Arl chuckles.

“No, it’s a language someone created using hand actions instead of speaking so that the deaf and mute can communicate without writing everything down.  Of course, whoever you are speaking to would have to know it as well.  Even so, I don’t know anything but the Auslan alphabet so I can’t teach you.”

“Actually, we do have that, you’d need a translator but we could all learn it and act as one, it may be better if people can see you are the one speaking even if you don’t say the words,” Terza tells him, he nods.

“What about thought transmission?” Bellan suggests shyly.

“I’ve never exactly been a natural at that,” Quin says quietly for half the sentence before Arl gestures for him to up the volume and he speaks too loudly, she motions for him to lower it slightly again, he huffs and throws his arms into the air in frustration.

“I don’t suppose that is among your myriad of skills?” Terza asks Arl who shakes her head.

“I could try to teach you?” Bellan offers, “I’ve been doing it since I was a young child, it’s what made me think of it.”

“Yeah I remember when you hadn’t learnt volume control,” Garen says pulling on his ear like it was still happening.

“I remember when she kept having that recurring nightmare and accidentally projecting snippets of it into everyone else’s mind before screaming out loud and in our heads,” Bant tells them.

“I remember when you made Garen blow up the creche,” Bellan snips back to her friend, Garen shakes his head rapidly before sighing, “Oops,” Bellan mutters realising her mistake.

“I knew you were lying!” Micah tells him triumphantly.

“You knew nothing!”

“Did too!”

“Then why did you take me as a Padawan two days later?”

“Well I was considering it because you did it so well but Arl convinced me that taking the blame and protecting your friend was a good foundation for a Jedi to be built on.”

“That went well,” Garen snorts.

“I thought he’s your student?” Karr asks her father.

“He is now, also thanks to Arl.”

“I need to butt out of people’s lives.”

“The transmission is a good idea for Quin but in general, maybe we should learn the signs to communicate if we need to without others understanding us,” Obi-Wan tells them, “I…uh, Uncle Ben did that with his Padawan,” He adds looking awkwardly at Anakin for a moment.

“He was a Jedi?” Ani asks surprised.

“Mmhmm, a long time ago.”

“Uncle Ben?” Mace mouths to Arlie.

**_“_ ** **_Anakin overheard part of a conversation, Obi_ ** **_’_ ** **_s was still pretty scattered from getting Ben_ ** **_’_ ** **_s memories and should not have been improvising information but anyway._ ** **_”_ **

“Did you know that Arl?  You said you guys met before you joined the Jedi,” Anakin asks her.

“I did, Uncle Ben told me.”

“Why didn’t he bring you in then?” Arl hesitates for a moment.

“It would have been stealing at the time.”

“Oh, but because you’d been kidnapped when Xan and Master Qui found you it’s okay?”

“Yes exactly.  The signing is a good idea, but learning that may be difficult with everything else going on.”

“Anakin and I have loads of time, we could come up with something in segments for you after we learn?” Owen offers, everyone considers it.

“Loads of time?  You disappear during the day and only show up when you want food,” Cliegg tells his son, “And your brother’s in the creche,” Cliegg tells him, Owen, Ani, Obi, Arl, and Xanatos get smug looks on their faces, “Uhhh…” he says awkwardly.

“He has a point, boys,” Shmi says with a smile, Cliegg smiles at her.

“Yeah but I…uh, nothing,” Owen says awkwardly, Anakin laughs, “Shh.”

“Owen?” Shmi asks with narrowed eyes, Mic laughs, “Micah?” Mic stops laughing.

“I know nothing,” He says looking into his food, Owen giggles but turns quickly to his food.

“Children, all three of you…” Shmi says with a look to Mic, “One of you had best start talking.”

“I maybe have been sneaking into the creche with Anakin,” Owen mutters.

“How are you getting in?” Mace asks confused before looking to Mic, “You’ve been letting him in?”

“Jey-Sahl never makes him leave!” He defends himself.

“Oh, speaking of Jey, she was in the session too,” Arl tells Dooku and Quin, both of whom sigh.

“So, Owen has been going to the creche classes, and no one noticed?” Tahl asks.

“Well, Master Penn did but only after a week, and since I kept up with the lessons and helped some other kids she let me do it so long as I behaved,” Owen responds earning an odd look from his father.

“Owen.”

“Yes Dad?”

“We’ve only been here two days.”  Owen is quiet for a moment, his face slowly morphing into a sheepish smile as though slowly losing the fight to keep his expression neutral.

“This may have started when we visited last year.”

“How did you miss a year of work and not be completely lost now?” Arl asks.

“I may have been sending him copies of our work,” Anakin admits hesitantly.

“You’ve had your own school work to do, Owen, how have you been getting full marks while doing so much other work too?” Cliegg asks his son.

“Well, school’s boring but Jedi do more complicated work.  Ani helped me when we first came here to understand what they were doing and it was more fun than school work I finish in ten minutes.  Plus, because they are all seven or eight they haven’t started using the force when sparring yet.”

“You’ve been joining those lessons as well?” Shmi asks incredulously.

“I was a moisture farmer on Tatooine, I don’t tire easily from physical exertion.  Anakin was recording demonstrations and sending them to me, I was getting up early to practice before you woke up.  The instructor has been moving me around the class so that the kids get practice with someone bigger than them.”

“What do you do when they are practicing using the force?  Or meditating?” Xanatos asks.

“Well, anyone can meditate, and Ani and I do this really cool thing where he lends me some of his force-sensitiveness, but it only works when we are working closely and channelling our minds together.  The teaching Master was very surprised, said we intertwined our minds and shared Anakin’s force-strength.  He’s been encouraging us to see what we can do with it.”

“How has this not been brought before the council?” Depa asks incredulously, Mic awkwardly continues eating, dodging looks from every Councillor in the room.

“You guys have been real busy so we asked the teaching Master not to mention anything until you guys have more time, plus we didn’t want them to get in trouble for Owen being there.”

“Given that a member of the Council has been letting you in, they will not be getting in trouble, this does need to be brought before them though.  We will make time for it, our younglings are more important than us sitting around debating various things,” Mace assures the boys, Mic looks down sheepishly.

“So, do you two spar together often?” Arl asks curiously.

“Yeah, we thought it was weird because the teaching Master wanted us to learn to fight well together after hearing about what we were doing in force-lessons, but apparently by fighting each other we will learn each other’s weaknesses and then we know what gaps need filling.  We haven’t gotten to the point of knowing what that means, but we hold out in matches against other pairs longer and our matches against each other take a while.”

“You guys want to go to a salle with us after dinner and show us?” Obi-Wan asks looking at Arl first and getting her nod.

“Yes!” Both boys exclaim happily, “You guys should fight too, I haven’t seen you two spar,” Anakin tells his brother and sister.

“Neither have we, not since-uh-Uncle Ben,” Depa tells her sister-padawan, awkwardly fumbling for a moment.

“When was the last time you and Uncle Ben fought, Arl?” Garen asks curiously, Obi and Arl exchange thoughtful looks.  Arl looks to the empty seat beside Qui-Gon questioningly.

“’Fresher,” He explains, Arl nods.

“I’m not sure we ever have.” Obi shakes his head.

“There wasn’t really a point, I’d have been creamed back then, she frequently took down Winni after all.  Actually, the only time I’ve seen her lose a match was against Yoda while emotionally compromised.”

“Lost?  You bashed me over the head with your lightsaber hilt and knocked me out!”

“After you stopped fighting!”

“Oh yeah…wait Mic interrupted that fight.  Hang on, I did win that fight.”

“Arl you used the force to drive the air from his lungs, that hardly counts.” Everyone looks at her in shock.

“Would have worked too if Mic hadn’t turned up,” Arl mutters darkly, “Stupid troll.”

“I keep forgetting you and Yoda didn’t get along, and that you went seriously dark for a while,” Garen tells her, she shrugs.

“Long time ago on both accounts.”

“You only came back to the light-side after you met Wrath the first time, that really wasn’t that long ago,” Mace reminds her shocking the others yet again.

“Yes, but I hadn’t actively tried to murder anyone for a year before that.  And I thought we covered the whole light and dark thing?”

“Yes, we did, sorry, you only ‘unfell’ after you met him,” He amends, she nods.

“I’m sorry, Arleia, you have a history of attempting gruesome murders of your enemies?” Shmi asks, Arl swallows thickly, “How old are you Arlie?” She asks quieter, Arl looks at her lap.

“Fifty-three next week.” Her mother and Cliegg look unsurprised, Anakin and Owen look extremely surprised.

“You don’t really have an Uncle Ben, do you Obi?” Anakin asks suspiciously, Obi shakes his head.  Mic and Garen exchange looks, trying not to laugh at the tone the boy used, so suspicious.

“No, Arl gave me my memories of another life.  Ben is what we call other me, most of us have another name for that version of us so that we know who Arl or I are talking about.”

“Then how old are you son?” Cliegg asks Obi.

“I _am_ eighteen, it’s a bit different than Arl.  I remember living to fifty-seven, Arl actually _lived_ it.”

“That other life, it wasn’t good, was it?” Shmi asks her daughter, Arl shrugs.

“It had its bright points. But on a whole?  Not really no.”

“What was I like?  Wait, did you know me?” Owen asks excitedly, Arl laughs.

“I did, I didn’t meet you until after Other-Mum and other-Cliegg got married and moved to Coruscant, you were, twenty-two, nearly twenty-three at the time,” Arl tells the boy.

“Why so old?” Shmi asks, Arl ducks her head.

“That’s when we saw each other for the first time since I left Tatooine when I was five.”

“Oh Arlie,” Shmi says getting up and hugging her daughter.

“What was I like?” Anakin asks, Arl and Obi-Wan freeze.

“You were a brilliant Jedi-Knight known for getting out of impossible situations with crazy and reckless ideas you always managed to pull off, you were also a pain in my ass and never followed orders,” Arl answers truthfully, Obi smiles thankfully at her, she nods to him.

“Who trained me?” Ani asks excitedly.

“I did,” Obi answers.

“Wait, if you didn’t come save me and mum, how did I end up here?”

“Qui-Gon and I got stranded on Tatooine, you helped us and we freed you.  Qui-Gon was going to train you but he died a few days after we met, I promised him I’d train you so I took you as my Padawan immediately.  You were nine-years-old.”

“Was I super cool?  Did I have a reputation? Did I ever take a Padawan?” Anakin asks in rapid fire.

“You did actually, a reputation of disobeying the council and your Master, you and Obi were famously known throughout the galaxy, ‘The Negotiator and The Hero With No Fear’.  Yoda and I assigned you a Padawan that you trained but…some stuff happened and she was never Knighted.  And you were super cool, you were the first person to still be a Knight when you joined the Council,” Arl tells him, the Jedi and Sith at the table look at her in confusion, she shakes her head to get them not to ask.

“When was I Knighted?”

“You were twenty-three.”

“Did I ever become a Master?” He asks, Arl shakes her head.

“No, three days after you joined the Council, the Order collapsed.”

“Oh, that wasn’t my fault, was it?” He asks, concerned by the timing, Obi surprises Arl by smiling widely.

“No Ani, no it wasn’t.  It was the Dark Sith.” Anakin smiles reassured, Arl smiles too.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After dinner, everyone headed down to the training salle, Karrya was excited to see Jedi spar.  Everyone was curious about the boys’, who were positively buzzing with excitement, match, but were equally intrigued to see Arl and Obi spar.

“Master Geqwa!” Owen calls excitedly when he sees the man entering from the other door.

“If it isn’t my favourite unofficial initiate,” The Master in question says as he walks over and ruffles Owen’s hair.

“One would hope he is your _only_ unofficial initiate,” Mace says with a stern look, Owen glares at Mace, Mic hits Mace’s shoulder, “Ow.”

“Be nice!”

“Don’t worry Master Geqwa, you aren’t in any trouble.  You take the boys and their peers for their defence classes, yes?” Depa asks, Geqwa nods, Depa smiles, “We were just about to watch them spar, would you care to join us?”

“Yes, it would be nice to see how they do under other’s observation.”

“Just like in class?” Ani asks Owen who nods.

“Master Aa, what’s going on?” Thelm Gart asks her, Arl looks over and sees Siuthad and Chaill with her.

“Padawan Gart, Initiate Siuthad, Initiate Chaill,” Arl greets, “We were about to observe my brothers sparring.”

“You are quite well known around here,” Karrya observes, Arl smiles.

“I spend a lot of time in the creche and I tutor these three and a few others in defence.  I had a whole class of Knights for about a year, now those Knights teach others,” Arl tells her.

“Master Aa is the best fighter in the temple, she’s never lost and she had a whole bunch of Masters, some Knights, and some Padawans fight her at the same time once,” Siuthad tells Karrya.

“Oh, I don’t know that she’s the _best_ fighter, she’s good I’ll give her that much,” Obi-Wan says teasingly.

“You lost to her too Kenobi,” Chaill reminds him, Obi smiles at the boy.

“Yes, but I have learnt much since then.”

“After our match, Obi and Arlie are going to ‘give a demonstration’,” Anakin tells the others.

“Let’s just get on with this instead of hyping up a friendly match,” Arl says smirking.

“You think you’re going to win,” Obi-Wan accuses.

“You think I won’t?”

“Okay, this is officially a challenge.  Winner gets the title of best fighter.”

“My friend Winni and I once agreed that the winner of a fight gets bragging rights for at least three weeks before having to win again to maintain it,” Arl tells him, he smirks.

“Guess we are doing this again in three weeks.”

“Try and survive this one first, yeah?” She sasses.

“This escalated quickly,” Garen remarks.

“You boys ready?” Mace asks Owen and Anakin, both nod, “Okay, begin.”

The fight lasts ten minutes before Owen pins Anakin and Ani yields, all in all it was exceptional for kids so young, especially given Owen’s lack of training.

“Remind me to never underestimate those two again,” Arl comments, Xanatos nods.

“Skywalker, you need to centre your weight more, you’re favouring your left foot again.  Lars, Anakin is smaller than you, you need to practice and get your speed up.  Also remember he’s a slippery little guy.  You both did really good though, you should be proud,” Geqwa tells the boys, they both grin widely, when they step off to the side, Arl sees Anakin take up the starting position and get Owen to poke him.  He notices the wobble and shifts his weight before getting him to poke him again.

“Better,” Owen tell him, Anakin smiles, Arl is proud of her brother so easily accepting the feedback.  It would have taken a near death experience to make him admit he was wrong last timeline.

“You guys are up,” Mic says to Obi and Arl, they take up positions.

“Kenobi’s about to get creamed,” Someone says as people from around the room come to watch, sometimes Arl hates the attention her presence gathers, though Obi is beginning to do the same.

“They’re both on the council now, he’s got to be better this time,” Another says.

“Yes, but this is Arl Aa we are talking about.”

“I think you have a fan club dear sister,” Obi-Wan says mockingly as they wait for Mace to call it, “Open?”

“You’re on brother.”

“Begin.”

“Wait!” Xanatos calls just as they both step toward each other, everyone turns to look at him just as he grabs Dooku’s lightsaber from his belt and stabs himself in the stomach, “Ugh.”

“XAN!” Dooku, Arlie, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Garen call desperately as they spring into action.

“I warned you…Kitten,” Wrath says through Xanatos as he falls to his knees, “He…would…kneel.” He then passes out.

“SOMEONE GET ME THE MEDKIT!” Terza yells running to Xanatos, Arl sprints over as Thelm grabs the medkit and tosses it to her, she hands it to Terza.

“Try and stop the bleeding, I’ll try and heal him,” Arl tells her, she nods and puts pressure on the wound.

“Bellan, go get a gurney, wait, make it two.  Get the healers to set up an emergency unit should this fail,” Terza orders her Padawan who takes off immediately, “Why didn’t the blade cauterise it?” She asks deactivating it and tossing it aside.  Arl kneels beside her friend and tries to sense the damage.

“Dear gods,” Arl whispers, “Keep him alive long enough for me to do this, everyone that has never been this man’s Master clear out!” Arl says first to Terza then everyone, Terza nods as Mace and Mic start shuffling all but Qui-Gon and Dooku out.  Arl moves her hands through several movements before pushing the force out to do her will, except unlike any other time the others can remember, she continues moving her hands trying to repair many different kinds of damage.

“My Lord?” Qui-Gon whispers to Dooku who is pale and hasn’t moved from where he was standing.  Terza spares them a glance.

“Anarch, Ty’s in shock, comm Bellan to bring a few blankets up, Xan is going to need one too, possibly Arl as well,” She orders him without looking back a second time, she notices Arl grimace as she seems to push harder.  Terza tries to use normal Jedi healing to keep Xanatos’ blood circulating, prolonging his life for the few minutes it takes Bellan to get there with the gurney’s and blankets.

“We need to get them to the healer’s wing, he needs a blood transfusion.  Grab Mace, Mic, Quinlan, and Cliegg to help move these gurneys.  Qui-Gon, leave Dooku with Shmi and come help me move Xanatos onto the gurney, Arl I need you to sit on one while you work, we will keep you both as steady as possible.” Arl nods vaguely and moves carefully to sit cross-legged on the gurney.

Seven minutes later Xanatos is miraculously still alive and being hooked up to the blood transfusion, Terza can sense Arl’s healing working, but not fast enough.

“Arl…” She starts saying.

“I know,” Arlie replies desperately trying to work faster without fucking up, Mic’s comm chimes, he swears but looks at it before walking to a corner to answer.   Moments later he hurries to Arl.

“Tilli says _She_ has a message for you,” Micah says quietly to her.

“Mic is this really important right now?” Terza asks crossly, though no one besides Arl heard what he said.

“It could save his life, so yes.”

“What message?” Arl murmurs without opening her eyes.

“Don’t hold back.”

“What the hell does that even mean? Of course I’m not hol…oh,” She says as her face scrunches in concentration before relaxing, “Fuck it, Terza I need to stop for a moment, get your healer’s all here ready to take over for a minute, maximum.  They need to be prepared get out of the way very quickly,” Arl orders, she hears people shuffling and the door open and close, she thinks unneeded people left.

“Ready when you are.”

“Okay, now,” Arl says opening her eyes and scooting backwards, she sits cross-legged on the floor and meditates, doing what she very rarely does and going as deep into it as she can, a minute and a half later Arl steps up and over to him, the healer’s moving out the way as quickly as possible.  Arlie’s hands start to glow a blinding white, it creeps up her arms until it erupts all over her as her hands hover above Xanatos’ stomach, the light gracefully spirals down in tendrils to connect with his wound and pass into it.  Terza tries to use her hand to block out the light to see what is happening, she sees his bone, muscle and tendons reconnecting, first layer of skin repairs itself before the light disappears in the blink of an eye and Arl hovers there for a moment before her eyes roll to the back of her head and she collapses.

“Bellan, take care of Arlie, the rest of you, help me finish this off.”

 

Twenty-five minutes later, Terza opens the door to see Mic, Mace, Qui-Gon, Dooku, Quinlan, and Shmi waiting outside.

“Terza?” Mic asks worriedly, she smiles reassuringly.

“Xanatos is stable though don’t expect him to be up and about for a while.  He’s sedated to allow his body to recover from the strain of, well, everything.  Arlie is unconscious, she stopped breathing and was brain dead for 30 seconds before her whole body seemed to restart.  She’s also stable but we are monitoring them both closely,” Terza informs them, they all sag in relief except Quinlan and Dooku, Dooku still seemed out of it which means no one translated for Quinlan and because of his worry, he was having trouble focusing through the force properly.  Terza sends thumbs up his way, he smiles gratefully, “Bellan, will you come help Quinlan please? Give him a rundown of what happened?  Dooku is too out of it and you’re the only one around that can naturally Transmit and receive thoughts.”

“Of course Master,” She replies and moves to sit beside Quinlan who looks at her with interest.

“Mic, I need to know what she did.” He looks lost and shrugs.

“I do not know Terza, I-I may be able to find out though,” He says but looks uncertainly at Mace.

“Go, I’ll stay here,” He tells him, Mic looks around for a moment before leaning forward and kissing Mace.

“I’ll comm you what I find, then I’ll update the others,” He tells them before he leaves, Mace smiles at his retreating form.

“Awwwww,” Quinlan says at the exchange, Mace just looks at him, “She’d be pissed if no one said it in her absence,” He explains loudly, Mace smiles a little and nods.

“Can we see them?” Qui-Gon asks, Terza nods.

“We’ve got enough chairs for you guys and Mic, that’s the maximum until Xanatos’ sedation is reversed,” She tells them sternly, they all nod, Quin and Qui-Gon pull Dooku a bit to get him moving before he walks in on his own.

“Is he going to be okay?” Shmi asks Qui-Gon who sighs dejectedly.

“He just watched his Padawan stab himself with _his_ lightsaber, would you be?” She shakes her head sadly as they enter the room and take their seats.

 

Ten minutes later Mic comms Terza.

“What did she do?”

“All I was told is, ‘You just witnessed the true power of the force.  Nothing will ever be the same again.’”

“What does that even mean?”

“I expect we’ll find out when Arlie wakes up,” He says before closing the commlink and walking to his quarters where the others are waiting.

 

“How is he?” Obi-Wan asks as soon as Mic enters the room, he smiles.

“He is fine.  From what I understand, Arlie did a thing and saved him.” The relief in the room was palpable.

“Is _she_ all right?” Cliegg asks worriedly.

“They are both unconscious but stable, Terza is watching them closely.  Obi-Wan, Tahl, Depa, can I have a word?”  They walk into the kitchen, he checks no one is listening before talking. “We all saw and heard the same thing, we know what happened.”

“Wrath,” The other three say at once.

“I will kill him for this,” Darth Sohn says, Mic sighs.

“Not the point, he’s gotten more powerful, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to take Xan’s mind so quickly and without him feeling it until it was far too late.  Arl challenged him, he’s got revenge, but Xanatos is not the only one he threatened.  Anakin’s mind is far easier to get, we know he’s done it before in the other timeline.  You guys need to watch him and be prepared to subdue.”

“How did he get stronger?” Depa asks.

“I’ve really no idea Dee, can either you or Adi update Valorum for me?  Also, they’ve been melding their minds, if Anakin gets taken, Owen may as well.  Keep them apart, watch them both.”

“What about Dooku?  He was threatened as well, so was Bellan,” Tahl reminds him.

“Okay, here’s the plan.  Obi-Wan, stay with Anakin, Depa stay with Owen.  Tahl contact Adi, catch her up and get her to update Valorum, then I need you to research how to defend someone’s mind rather than just shield it,” Micah orders.

“Why do I have to watch the little brat?” Sohn asks darkly, Mic sighs before smirking and looking at him fully.

“What?  Powerful Sith Lord can’t handle an eight-year-old?” He asks raising an eyebrow, Sohn narrows sickly yellow eyes and snarls.

“Fine, I got the kid.”

 

Mic gets back to the healer’s wing just in time to see Mace pull Shmi into a supportive hug as everyone stands in the hallway once more.

“What’s going on? Are they okay?” Mic asks his lover who looks at him worriedly.

“It’s Arlie, she’s seizing.  Terza doesn’t know what’s happening and she doesn’t know what Arl even did before, so she cannot even make a guess,” Mace explains, Mic runs hand down his mouth.

“Gods,” He says stressed and terrified.

 

A few minutes later Bellan walks out with Terza, the younger of which goes to communicate with Quinlan while Terza speaks to the others.

“She’s stable again, we still don’t know what caused the seizure so we are keeping a close eye on her brain activity.  If it happens again, we’ll hopefully be able to locate the cause,” Terza tells them, looking everyone in the eye to make sure they understand, “For now though, you are welcome to sit with them both again.”

 

Three days later Dooku and Darth Sohn are sitting silently beside Xanatos when he wakes.

“Master?” He asks as he opens his eyes and smiles upon seeing Dooku, then he sees the other occupant of the room, “Obi,” He says happily though sounding very tired, “What happened?”

“I’ll get Terza,” Sohn says gruffly, he was relieved his partner was awake, but Sidious had made it near impossible for such emotions to remain for long when he trained him.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Dooku asks his former Padawan carefully.

“Obi and Arl were about to fight, I felt _him_ trying to get into my head so I yelled at them to wait, then I just remember a lot of pain and then waking up here.”

“That’s actually pretty much it for what happened to you.  He took you over, stole Ty’s lightsaber and stabbed you in the stomach before we’d even realised what was happening.  The other healers and I kept you alive long enough for Arlie to heal you,” Terza tells him as she enters the room.

“Then where is she? Past events lead me to believe she’d have hovered over me until I woke up just in case something went wrong.” Terza and Dooku share hesitant looks before Dooku nods for her to do as she felt best.

“Arlie lost consciousness after healing you as best she could, she has yet to wake up.  We had to move you to a new room after the second seizure so that you weren't in the way,” Terza replies honestly since she knows he will keep questioning until they tell him everything.

“Why did she pass out? Is she okay?”

“As near as we can tell, she’s in a coma of some kind. We have no idea what she did but for now, she’s alive,” Terza says as she finishes checking him over, “Tell me when you can feel my fingers,” She says poking at parts of his feet.

“Can I see her?” He asks looking at her worriedly, she sighs.

“Can you feel this Xanatos?” She asks, he only just notices she’s even touching him, he shakes his head.

“I-is that as bad as it sounds?” He asks worriedly receiving a forced smile in return.

“Give it a few hours, I’ll re-evaluate then.  We’ll talk about seeing your angel later, for now, you’re on bed rest,” She says patting his leg reassuringly before leaving the room, Sohn walks in and retakes his seat on the opposite side of the bed from Dooku.  Xanatos takes his hand and smiles at him when he gets a disgruntled expression.

“There is no fight to be had here, but your family no doubt needs you right now, _I_ need you right now,” He tells him, Sohn looks down into his lap, Obi-Wan looks up and meets his eyes with a small smile.

“I’m sorry,” He says sheepishly, Xan squeezes his hand.

“Don’t apologise, I’d have been a little out of control if our situations were reversed. How long was I out?”

“Three days,” Dooku responds tiredly as he rests his head against his hand with his elbow on the arm rest.

“How long were you out of control?” Obi blushes slightly and looks embarrassed and a little ashamed, Xan thinks it’s adorable.

“Three days,” He mumbles as he watches Xan trace circles into the back of his hand.

“I’m going to go...let the others know you’re awake...” Dooku says awkwardly before leaving the room.

“Are we ever going to talk about this?” Xanatos asks when the door closes behind him, Obi sighs and brings his elbows up to rest on the bed, lifting Xan’s hand up with both of his and leaning his chin on all three hands.

“When it’s been more than ten minutes since you woke up from almost dying,” Obi responds, Xan smiles mischievously at him.

“Eleven Minutes then?” Obi smiles at him.

“Sure, eleven minutes,” He agrees, knowing he wasn’t getting out of it.

 

 

Dooku heads down three doors before finding the right one and walking into Arlie’s room, the door to which was, unsurprisingly, open.

“Xanatos is awake,” He tells those sitting in the room, there was Shmi who had Anakin on her lap, Micah, Quin and Garen.  Mace was also there but had ‘fallen asleep’ *read drugged by Mic while Terza looked the other way* against Mic’s shoulder.

“Yes, we heard.” Mic replies quietly.

“I thought you would have but...I needed an excuse, how is she?” Dooku asks leaning slightly on the back of the side of the chair Mace is not using.

“Hasn’t had a seizure for eighteen hours so that’s a positive, we think,” Mic replies as Garen taps Quinlan on the shoulder to get his attention and points to Dooku, he waves. Dooku smiles back but is worried that he didn’t sense his presence.

“What do you mean ‘we think’?”

“Terza doesn’t know enough about her condition, for all we know, it could be her brain shutting down,” Mic answers, Dooku frowns, “Why did you need an excuse?” Dooku pinches the bridge of his nose in a rare show of stress.

“It was getting a little too...shall we say...cosy, between Little Obi and Xan.”

“Saw that coming a mile away,” Anakin says confusing everyone, “It’s a large unit of measuring distance on Earth.  Well a part of Earth, not the one Arl lived in but it’s a common saying,” He explains.

“How is it you know of Earth but did not know about Arl’s age?” Dooku asks confused.

“Little Obi said it yesterday and told me.”

“Ah, fair enough.”  (Except that Little Obi wasn’t Little Obi yesterday…)  Dooku thinks to himself before deciding to stop being paranoid, the kid probably meant Sohn.

 

“Stop beating around the bush and answer my question, why can’t I feel my legs Terza?” Xan asks frustratedly hours later, she swallows back the angry retort, she’d been almost constantly awake since he was stabbed and working without break the entire time.

“Arl did everything she could Xan, she saved your life.  My healers and I did what we could to patch up the wound but, we didn’t sense the damage to your spine that did not get healed when Arlie did whatever she did,” Terza replies looking ashamed, she should have noticed after all.

“Can it be fixed?” He asks, Terza bites her lip in a rare show of nerves.

“I do not know, all I know is that I cannot heal you more than I have, I do not know the extent of the damage or what Arlie did to which parts of you, you could very well end up in far worse condition.  Until Arl wakes up, I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do.” Xan nods acceptingly.

“It is not your fault Terza, I thank you for all you have done, but this will not be healed.  I suppose, I already knew that, now I can accept it too,” Xanatos replies not quite understanding his own words but knowing they are true.

“Arl may still be able to help when she wakes, do not give up hope.”

“If she wakes up she will have many more important duties to attend to than my minor inconvenience.”

“ _When_ she wakes up, you know as well as I that fixing this _minor inconvenience_ will be more important to her than the Order.” Xan smiles peacefully as though he had just won, it made her uncomfortable.

“Which is exactly why I must accept this as my fate now.  If- _when_ she wakes up, the Order must be her priority or everything we have done will have been for nought.  This is the will of the force Terza, do not feel guilty over this.”

“You know what the biggest lesson I have ever learnt from Arlie is?” Terza asks, he shakes his head, still with that same serene smile on his face, “Sometimes you have to make the force listen to you.” His smile fades ever so slightly, good.  There was nothing that angered her more than a patient resigned to their fate when there was still hope, there was _always_ hope.  Even when she was legally required to say otherwise.

 

The next day Terza allowed Xanatos to visit Arl in his new, and hopefully temporary, wheelchair.  He was glad to join the other few people that had been able to sit with Arl.  Obi-Wan hadn’t been there with him since he first woke up, apparently he had been on partial rugrat duty, but Dooku had been with him for most of that time and had wheeled him over to the room down the hall housing his best friend.

Shmi, Micah, Mace, Quinlan, and Garen were all sat around her bed, though Mace was still unconscious from ‘falling asleep’ the day before.

“Good to see you up and about Xan…uh…sorry, bad choice of words.  I just mean, I’m glad you are doing better,” Garen says when they walk in, grimacing more pronouncedly with every word he said.

“Thank you Garen, I appreciate the sentiment,” Xanatos tells him to save his friend from digging an even deeper hole.  There is brief small talk, but since no one had done much but sit by one of two bedsides for four days, there was not much to say and silence soon fell.

 

 

“This is the last day we can do this,” Mace tells them upon waking, he had slept for fifteen hours straight.

“What do you mean?” Mic asks looking down at him, he is looking at Arl and looking heartbroken but clear-headed.

“We need to get back to work.  Arl would be very pissed if everything fell apart because we all sat around here instead of doing our jobs.”

Everyone was silent, they all knew he was right.

 

Mace and Micah walk into the Council Chamber the next day for a Council meeting, the others did not know they would be attending, and took their seats without comment.  Qui-Gon very happily left Micah his seat again and got the hell out of dodge, or as he put it ‘strategically retreating with due haste.’ ‘yes that’s called running away Master.’ ‘Be silent Apprentice.’ ‘Of course Master, whatever you say Master.’.

“We need to bring in Arl’s named stand in,” Mace announces when the meeting begins, if they were not shocked by his presence, they most assuredly were by his words.

“Mace…” Adi starts to say but Micah cuts her off.

“Despite what she believes sometimes, this Order is not run by nor does it revolve around Arl Aa, she may be incapacitated but that doesn’t mean the Order can be too.  We’ve worked too hard to wait around for this.  We may not be able to truly begin everything without our sole Custos but we can get things ready for when she is back on her feet.  We need a full Council to do so.”  The others exchange looks before Yoda speaks up.

“Darth Tyranus her stand in is.” Mace rubs his hands over his face as Mic sighs, it is a feeling mutual throughout the entirety of the Council.

“Of course it is.  Let me guess, it does not even say Dooku, she has actually inputted ‘Darth Tyranus’,” Obi-Wan guesses, to his surprise Yoda shakes his head.

“Lord Tyranus it says.” Obi sighs.

“I cannot believe these words are about to leave my mouth but, it would not be the first time a true Sith sat on this Council,” Adi tells them.

“Yes, but Qui-Gon was a temporary stand in for what should have been a mere three days.  Forgive me Mace, Mic, but this could be a great deal longer than any of us would prefer,” Eeth tells them, Mace looks dejected while Depa sighs.

“Sixty years,” Saesee says, suddenly breaking prolonged silence.

“Pardon?” Plo asks in polite confusion, Saesee’s face is dead serious as he sits straighter and taller in his chair, drawing the full attention of every Council member.

“That is approximately how long Darth Tyranus hid among our ranks, sixty years in a Jedi temple and do you know how he did it?”

“Being aware of how blind and content in our place we had become?” Mic suggests, Saesee shakes his head.

“No, he did it because quite frankly, the Sith was a better Jedi than many true Jedi.” It’s safe to say that no one was expecting him to say that, “Countless times he has saved members of this Order, protected the people of the Republic when we have ordered otherwise.  His research contained in the archives alongside many other great history keepers.  An accomplished diplomat and has successfully trained not only another Sith to act the same right under our noses, but has been training a Jedi for years and doing brilliantly.  If we refuse to have such an extraordinarily capable man on this Council than we are not nearly as wise as we claim to be.  Moreover, he is a part of this Order, has been longer than many of us here.  Who are we to deny him something he has rightfully earned?”  Apparently the ‘Ice to a Hothian’ skill was catching, no one could argue with the man’s logic.

 

 

 

“I am flattered by the offer, especially given these circumstances, but I must decline.” It was very quickly becoming a day of people saying things that bewildered those around them.

“May we enquire as to why?” Plo asks, more curious than put out, Dooku inclines his head in respectful acknowledgement.

“I am a Sith…” He begins and holds a hand up to silence those who move to speak, “I am a Sith who was once a Jedi.  I turned my back on your code, became an Apprentice to the very thing Jedi hate.  I do not mean to be disrespectful, but why would I do this if I had aspirations to become a more integral part of the Jedi, even a temporary one?” None had considered this.

“Why not just leave the Order?” Depa asks, by the look on her face she had pondered the question a long time, Dooku smiles calmly at her.

“I do not agree with the way this Order is run, I do not agree with most of what it stands for, and I do not at all agree with the way it responds to many situations.  But being here has put me in the position to respond to those situations as I feel appropriate.  I get results and you so easily overlook the many breaches to the code that so often turn up in my reports.”

“You were using us to get legally involved in things you otherwise could not?” Ki-Adi asks sounding unimpressed, Depa however smiles at him kindly.

“Oh fuck,” Mace mutters to himself recognising that look, he had been on the receiving end of it may times throughout her padawanship.  It was a very clear indicator that she knew something the rest of them did not, something Dooku would no doubt prefer she not know.

“I understand now,” She says simply, he looks at her with interest beginning to mar with feint traces of panic, “Just as your decision to be a Sith has in no way undermined our care for you, you becoming a Sith did not undermine your care for us.  You were raised in this temple, it is your home, and here you are surrounded by your family.  Why would anyone leave that because they do not agree with the job?”  Dooku looked increasingly uncomfortable and skittish, very unusual for the normally stoic and calm man.

“Yet still you risked it,” Mace adds thoughtfully as everyone ponders his former Padawan’s words.

“If your intention is to needle me until I say yes just to make you stop…well it may very well work,” Dooku says almost snarling, it was never good to make a potentially dangerous individual feel cornered, but sometimes it was the only way.

“Answer the question please Dooku.”

“I do not recall one being asked.”

“Why risk your home and family for a man you knew to be evil, Depa seems to think you stayed because you care yet your actions show we mean very little to you.”

“Do not presume to know anything about me or what factors contributed to me making decisions in _my_ life.”

“Tell me Dooku.”

“You would never understand, _Jedi_ ,” Dooku says officially crossing into snarling territory.

“Then _make_ me understand Tyranus!  I am waiting for you to explain, why become a Sith?  Why stay?  Why help us yet you claim you will never be one of us?  What is it about the Jedi you so despise?  _Convince_ me you made the right call.  This is your chance Ty, I am here and listening.  So _tell_ me, why would you gamble with the company of your family?” Mace all but pleads with him, Dooku’s face softens when he was expecting a volatile outburst.

“Because you always need convincing.” Silence followed the statement along with shared looks of confusion that Dooku enjoyed a little too much.

“Just for fun let us pretend no one understood that at all,” Micah says after a few moments, Dooku smiles sadly.

“You refuse to act, to help, to intervene until completely convinced there is a situation.  While you wait, while people grovel at your feet for help, unheard for a lack of proof, people die.  People suffer alone and afraid because you are peacekeepers, not protectors.  Depa is right, I stayed because I care for you all and for the survival of this temple, this Order’s purpose and its vision.  In the end though, no matter how much I wanted to _believe_ the Jedi could evolve, the safety and protection of those that cannot help themselves is more important than you all agreeing with my life choices.  I have never served you, nor have I ever served Sidious.  I serve the people of this galaxy, everyone out there that I thought I was to protect when I was eventually elevated to Jedi Knight.” This had to be the fifth time today the Council had been stunned to silence.

“Gods,” Adi whispers in horrified shock, all at once what Dooku was describing became oh so clear in her memories and interpretations of past events…and current ones.

“Do not misunderstand me, I am inconceivably proud of you all for the work you are putting in to change this Order, to truly be the open-minded and enlightened people you have for so long claimed you are.  I will do all I can to help with this, but at the end of it all nothing has changed.  You are not doing this because of any real change in yourselves or in the way you see things, you are doing it because you believe the force has guided you to it.  If you are to ever truly change your ways, it must come from within yourselves, not my voice on the Council, no matter how short-lived it would hopefully be,” Dooku says before bowing and walking to the door.

“You are wrong Tyranus, we are changing,” Mace tells him, Dooku sends a smirk his way as he stops halfway out the door.

“So prove it.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Erm, hi.  Healer Terza said she had no kriffing clue if you could hear us or not but I thought it was worth a try anyway.  To tell you the truth I have no idea what kriffing means but I think I got her point.  It is just that, I am concerned, for the others I mean.  I do not know you well but something in me just knows you will pull through so I try not to worry too much, though I wish others would share my certainty on the subject.  It is not that they do not believe in you, just, I think they are getting tired.  Of everything.  I know next to nothing of what is happening in this Order but it is nothing like the stories I heard as a child.  I know you had much to do with that, and they continue to try without you, but they are lost.  They do not have your conviction, your drive, your confidence, or your trust that in the end things will be okay.  They think of you as their leader, but, what I do not believe either you nor they realise is that, you are also their hope.  Without you they flounder, they are afraid.  If you cannot make it through this, how can they?  I heard you, that day when you all thought I was still in the ‘fresher.  I did not mean to eavesdrop but when one overhears another speaking of impossible things, one’s grasp of logic and propriety vanishes quickly.  If it is all true, if you are who you say you are, then I must believe you were brought back here for a reason.  I must believe that that reason is not yet done with you, they need you Arlie, we all do.  Please come back my friend, before there is nothing for you to come back to.”

**_“_ ** **_It_ ** **_’_ ** **_s coming._ ** **_”_ **

Karrya Jinn-Dye looked around her in bewilderment, dropping the hand of the not-child unconscious before her.

“Who-who said that?”

**_“_ ** **_Beware_ ** **_…_ ** **_the dark._ ** **_”_ **

“The what?  The dark?  Why?”

**_“_ ** **_Not...a beast_ ** **_…_ ** **_something_ ** **_…_ ** **_something more._ ** **_”_ **

“Beast?  What are you talking about?  What are you?!” She asks breathing heavily as she looks around, she looks back to Arlie when the voice does not speak again and finds the girl looking straight at her, “Arl?!”

“It’s dying…”

“What is?  What are you talking about?” Karrya pleads.

“The force…not a beast…something…in the dark…it’s coming.”

“Arlie please explain, what is happening?” She asks desperately on the verge of tears, Arl grabs her arm and pulls her in close.

“The weakness found him, he’ll unravel it all.  Stop him.  The dark is coming, not a beast.”

“Then what is it?  What isn’t a beast?”

“He’ll unravel it all, the dark, not a beast, not a beast…nothing will survive!” She says before convulsing and screaming, Karrya screams too and suddenly wakes up to someone shaking her, she pulls away from the grip and screams again as tears stream down her face.

“Karrya?” Terza asks her hesitantly as she places her arms out to show she is not a threat, Karrya grabs her arms.

“She-she told me, I-I don’t want to die,” Karrya sobs, Terza wraps her arms around the frightened teenager.

“Shh child, shh, it’s all right, you are safe, it was just a dream.”

“No, it wasn’t.  She said he would unravel it all, the dark is coming and that nothing will survive it.  She said it was coming out of the dark, not a beast.”

“I don’t understand Karr.”

“Neither do I but she said it, I-I don’t know Healer, I don’t know but she told me.”

“Who did?” Karrya looks Terza in the eyes.

“Arlie.”

 

“Not a beast?  You are sure that’s what she said?” Dooku asks urgently.  Terza had called everyone into the meeting room, something they had not done in quite sometime. 

“Yes, I am sure, I nearly wrote it off as a dream.  Arl’s been completely unresponsive for three months but, she just looked so terrified and something about it was so familiar to me,” She replies to him, Mace nods thoughtfully.

“You did the right thing.  Did Karr say anything else?” He asks, she nods.

“It’s dying, the weakness found him, not a beast something more, the dark is coming and nothing will survive.”

“None of which sounds good,” Xan says, Garen rolls his eyes.

“Yes, thank you Captain Obvious.”

“Can you not be a dick for maybe five minutes while we try to puzzle this out?”

“Don’t act like you care, it’s your fault she’s in a coma anyway!”

“Now who’s pointing out the obvious.” Garen’s mouth snaps shut at Xan’s statement, Xanatos sighs and runs a hand through his hair, a lot easier to do since he got it cut short, “Look I just want to finish all of this.  I want her to be okay and I don’t ever, not ever again want to be used as a weapon against someone I love.  Of all the ways I thought Wrath might hurt her through me, stabbing me with my Master’s lightsaber was not one I had considered.  So please, will you get past that and help me fix this?  For her?” Garen nods as his eyes fill with tears that never fall.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, you’re right.  But for the record, no matter what I say it isn’t your fault.”

“Well isn’t that adorable,” Sohn drawls beside Xanatos, Garen rolls his eyes.

“And who invited you?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be forced into your company again,” He retorts.

“So, what triggered you?” Bellan asks calmly, she had continued working with Obi-Wan to reintegrate and making good progress.  This was the first slip since Sohn’s extended stay after Xanatos’ stabbing three and a half months ago.

“Nothing brought me forward my dear, his inability to cope with something sent him back.”

“With what?”

“That does not matter.”

“Why would Obi-Wan being unable to cope with something equal Sith taking over?” Bant asks confused, Sohn looks to her.

“That is quite simple, it is a matter of my entire purpose.  Obi-Wan was weak, could not cope with all that Sidious was doing to him, trying to break him.  Instead of giving in he retreated into his fractured mind and hid, those fractures merged around him to protect him from what he could not, that is what I am.  I disappear when Obi-Wan no longer needs me.”

“I cannot help with that unless you tell me what it is he needs help dealing with,” Bellan reminds him in a way that shows they’ve had this conversation before.

“He’s not telling you because he is afraid too.” Qui-Gon tells her, she raises an eyebrow at him.

“I am not afraid.”

“You were born out of fear, of course you are afraid.”

“Afraid,” Garen repeats quietly.

“I am not afraid!” Sohn insists, Garen shakes his head and wave a noncommittal hand.

“Not you, Arlie.  Was she afraid when she was speaking?” He asks Terza who shakes her head unknowingly.

“I’ve no idea Garen.” He groans in frustration before getting up and running out of the room, he sprints down to Arlie’s room where he knows he will find Karrya.

“Karr, was she afraid?” He asks grabbing her shoulders and making her look at him.

“I-uh-what?” She asks pulling her head instinctually away from him in surprise, he shakes her slightly in desperation.

“Please Karr, when she spoke to you, did Arlie sound afraid?” He asks just as the others fill the hallway outside the room, only Qui-Gon and Terza entering the room.

“No, she was terrified.” Garen seems to lose all strength at that point, staggering to grab the wall behind him and letting Karr go in the process.  She rubs her shoulders as her father pulls her into a hug and looks at him disapprovingly and a tad warily, Terza seems completely at a loss of what to do.

“I-I’m sorry…Karr, I just-I had to-I’m sorry,” He says stumbling towards the door.

“Garen?” Mic asks walking up to him as he holds onto the doorway for balance.

“It makes sense, everything, it all makes so much horrifying sense,” Garen tells him, eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears.

“What are you talking about Padawan?” He asks slipping into the old habit.

“The force’s actions with the force-seer, the warning, the weakness, the threat to reality, all of it.”

“You want to clue in the rest of us then?” Mace asks impatiently, but Garen could sense the impatience born of fear not genuine annoyance, he turns to the side to address Qui-Gon and Terza as well.

“Arl does not fear death.  Not for herself and not for others, not since she learnt the difference between protecting someone and saving them.”

“So, what?” Sohn asks testily, mentions of Vader always ended that way, or a creepy proudness that made everyone back away from the subject anyway.  Garen suspects that’s why he does it.

“So, she would not be afraid when saying no one would survive, she’d sound urgent, maybe even desperate, but not afraid.  She said nothing would survive, not no one.  She was not talking about death, she was talking about non-existence.”

“Arl said all of reality depends on the Jedi being ready to evolve when needed,” Xan recalls.

“But Arl has literally not existed before, when she goes into the in-between,” Quin says after Bellan speaks to him since Dooku was a little distracted.

“Exactly, there is no way to perceive time there, but being there long enough to have properly adjusted to a lack of everything, wouldn’t the thought of everything becoming like that frighten you?”

“I do recall you saying everything made sense, this is not everything,” Plo points out, Garen pulls on his hair in frustration.

“You still do not see?  The weakness found him, he’s using it to destroy the force that is why it is dying.”

“But the force is in everything, you can’t…oh…oh shit,” Bellan says, surprising everyone since she was not one for swearing.

“Exactly.”

“Still not getting it over here,” Mace says raising his hand.

“The force is in everything, you destroy it, everything goes with it.  All of reality stops existing when the Force does.”

“But if the force really has a weakness then Arl was right about it being a sentient thing which means Halvi was right about this creator literally being the force.  But if she is the force then how can all of reality depend on her existence, what about before she existed?” Bant asks.

“You are thinking linearly, time does not exist Bant.  Okay, a car is a type of transportation on Earth that uses fuel to run.  If a car on a road full of other cars begins leaking fuel, it does not only move ahead of it, it spreads behind it and all around it, dripping off bridges and spilling onto other roads.”

“Or in this case the force spreading everywhere after its creation, seeping into the other universes,” Mic says catching on.

“Exactly, now the longer it is there, the better people get at driving over it, eventually learning how to make the slip and lack of grip give them greater momentum moving forward, if it were to suddenly dry up some day…”

“The cars would lose control and crash.”

“In this case reality has become dependent on the force to hold it together, without it, it falls apart into nothingness.”

“But what’s the weakness, how did it find him, why would he want to do this and how can we stop him?”

“I do not know the answer to any of that,” Garen replies deflating.

“We know more now, we’ll work it out,” Mic assures him.

“What if we run out of time.  What if we are already too late?”

“We aren’t,” Xanatos tells him, something in his voice Karrya can’t quite name.

“How do you know?” Garen asks looking down at his friend, he was still getting used to Xan being in a wheelchair and always worried Xanatos would think he was demeaning him by looking down to him, there wasn’t exactly another way to look at him though.

“Because as long as just one of us is still alive, there will always be hope,” Xanatos replies, no one really took him for the hopeful kind so it was a tad surprising to hear but, all knew it was true, “We do this the way we should have done everything from the start, we face it together and we cannot fail.  We have nothing to lose!  So, let’s _do_ this.  We were wrong, to be uniting the Order so that its creator would come back and help us, we need to unite it, not to back the creator but to back _us_.  We know that anyone can drag a possessing soul out of a body and that we can still capture and contain it.  We are not murderers, we cannot just destroy him anyway.  Forget the creator, we will create something for ourselves, create our new Order of Sith, of Jedi,” Xan looks to Arl’s unconscious form, “Of Custos, and of Shadows.  We will start a new age for the Order, for the Republic, one in which peace is not all that is protected by us but the people are too.  When we bring this Order together again it will not be for the creator, nor will it be to stop Wrath, it won’t even be because Arl said so.” Everyone chuckles a bit at that, he smiles, “It will be because it is the right thing to do, not just for us but for everyone.  We are going to unite our Order, we are going to stop Wrath, save the force, save reality, protect our people, _all_ our people not just those in this Order, and then, we are going to bring Arlie back to us.  We’ll do it together, not by waiting for some creator but for having something this creator clearly does not have.  A sense of responsibility, and honour, compassion, and love.  We’ll do it for all of us, for our _family_ , for everyone.”  Obi-Wan smiles proudly, here is a man he once despised for turning his back on the Order and his kin…no, his family, now bringing it together and giving them hope.

“Well then, what are we standing around here for?  We have all of reality to save.”

 

 

 

“I understand what I am teaching them enough to start to do so but the problem remains, we still have no Custos to train the children,” Jey-Sahl tells the group two weeks later, she, Tachi, and Bordo had started being included in meeting room meetings since Xanatos’ speech got everyone working to push things along, with that came the realisation that they needed help.

“I have worked with Dooku, pardon me, Tyranus, on a retraining program for my Shadows.  After our reveal of the Sith goes public, Lord Tyranus is going to demonstrate how unprepared my Shadows are to them for dealing with one Sith let alone two or three Dark Sith.  That should lower their egos enough to truly accept this new training, then we can really get started.  You lot can focus on the Order while we do our job and hunt down the Dark Sith,” Bordo tells them.

“Good work, both of you.  Our biggest problem, as you’ve said Master Penn, is that we cannot truly move forward until we have someone to train those who chose the Custos path as Padawan Tachi has,” Mace tells them, Tholme shakes his head.

“I have been thinking on that and it occurred to me that until the Order accepts the differences, we have them see and speak to Dooku, Garen, and Sohn, having a teacher matters very little.  No one will be prepared to learn.  We need to bring everyone’s attention to the Sith and the Dark Sith as well as the concept of the Custos, have our Order’s true history out there for people to learn.  After that we will have the problem of a lack of teacher but there is no point on delaying.”

“I mean, worst comes to worse we think about what this Order needs, find some open minded volunteers to put together a new part of the Order based on what we know of the Custos, slap the new term on it and invent us a whole new sect of the Order based on what we believe it needs,” Siri tells them, Adi looks at her Padawan in surprise, “What?  I can do the wise Jedi thing too,” She tells her Master looking a little miffed, Adi smiles proudly.

“You made several good points there Siri, but I think the biggest was us making something based on what we believe is needed, right now it is all based around what existed 13’000 years ago, which is a bit pointless,” Depa points out.

“I really doubt Arlie wouldn’t have taken that into account, I am sure she had a plan,” Quin defends, Qui-Gon nods his agreement.

“While that may be true, the sad fact remains that Arlie is not here to share said plan.  Without it we may be forced to create one of our own,” He reminds them, Mace looks to the door wishing she would walk in and stop him from having to admit his next point.

“We’ll get the Order to a point in which they’ll accept new teachings, then if Arlie has woken up we’ll continue as previously planned.  If not then we will devise a plan of our own and she will just have to go with it when she wakes.” The unsaid ‘if she wakes’ hung in the air creating a tense atmosphere that filled the room.

“You mentioned having Sohn and Dooku in a secure room, let them speak to people and describe the difference between the two and then between Wrath and me.  You also mentioned having Garen available for people to ask questions about his training and reasons for deciding to do it.  How do you want to go about that?” Obi-Wan questions, everyone was quite glad when he referred to Sohn as ‘me’ instead of ‘him’, it was a good sign.

“I had a thought about that, what if we had an open day of sorts.  Say, in the different training Salles we have one in which Garen sits to answer questions along with Qui-Gon and Micah, another with Ty and Sohn.  We have a classroom set up with Tahl, Bant, and Quinlan to talk about the history of the Order and the Council Room open for people to ask questions about the specifics of how this will all be run in the long term.  You start the day off with Yoda and Mace giving a speech projected throughout the Temple from the Council Chamber, but the door should remain open to show that we aren’t cutting the Temple out of this,” Tahl suggests, everyone nods looking quite impressed.

“Okay, but if we drop it all on everyone they are just going to panic.  We need a slow build up to it, introduce the idea of the Order undergoing major changes, bring in changing views on the Sith and our history, new interpretations of old concepts.  Then you give them that day to get into the details of everything,” Garen proposes, Tahl has to concede that point.

“So, we just go out there and start casually bringing it up?” Terza asks sceptically.

“Small comments at first, just to get people talking about it, in a month or two we have the Council send out a memo that they’ve heard a lot of the rumours going around and are setting up this day a week from then to set the record straight.  Tell them the basics in the speech at the beginning of the day, then officially start it,” Garen suggests, Eeth looks awkwardly at Dooku and Qui-Gon.

“If people find out on the day about you two it is just going to be a lot of anger, and with this many people, I’d suggest doing this over a span of a week.  People have a small amount of time to get over it and speak with you all and everyone will have a chance to go through everything.  Have it mentioned in the beginning speech everyone in here that’s been involved and that those of us not in specific sections will be walking around and available for anyone that has questions.  We have to make it as open and trusting as possible.  If we can’t get this right within our own Order we cannot possibly handle the political scene as well.  I realise none of us like this but how this Order sits in politics does matter, a great deal unfortunately,” Koth points out, everyone nods, Mace looks grim but Dooku smiles.

“We should have the creche open for people to walk through and have a look at the new curriculum.  If I start it now, explain it to the students then they can help walk people through it on the day.  Having the younglings involved will show that we believe it to be safe and show it’s truly what the Order is _going_ to do moving forward, is already doing, it will make people want to adapt before they are simply left behind,” Jey-Sahl offers, everyone agrees to that.

“What are you so happy about?” Quin asks Tyranus.

“I have a good feeling about this Quinlan,” He replies.

 

Later that day Tahl and Micah are sat in the Commissary, Mic looked nervously excited, Tahl just seemed like she was trying not to laugh as they sat there knowing they were about to have the first conversation of this in public with the intention of being overheard.

“I’m glad Darth Anarch agreed with the Council’s ideas, his help is going to be invaluable,” Tahl tells Mic who nods at her.

“I’m glad the Council actually asked his help instead of just hoping we could deal with the Dark Sith ourselves,” He replies with genuine relief in his voice, now that they had started it really was just a normal conversation.

“Well in the end, the Sith are our brothers and sisters in the Force, it only makes sense that we come together to deal with a common threat.”

“You make it sound like they were ever against us.”

“I’m sorry, Master Giiett, Master Tahl, I couldn’t help but overhear.  Did you say something about the Sith being on our side?” Master Coleman Trebor asks, moving to stand near them, Mic and Tahl could see several other Jedi around them tuning in, some more subtly than others.

“You didn’t hear?  Turns out not all Sith are evil and against us.  In fact, we have two that are on our side and helping us find Wrath,” Micah tells him speaking in a casual voice, a touch of excitement and relief in the mix.

“We’re working with Sith now?” Master Agen Kolar asks in stunned disbelief, Tahl smiles.

“They are good people Agen, we would not be otherwise.”

“They are Sith, Master Tahl!”

“And we are Jedi, yet still some among us fall and go dark, why is it so hard to believe that the Dark Sith we have dealt with are the same?  That there are Sith out there that mean us no harm?” She replies calmly.

“I mean, when you think about it, having a different code doesn’t necessarily make them bad or wrong.  Just because we do not agree with it doesn’t make it evil,” Knight Stass Allie points out.

“This sounds like straight up insanity,” Trebor tells them.

“Has all the makings of a good plan then,” Knight Bultar Swan says relatively loudly from his seat beside Stass.  He winks at Tahl and Micah with a smile when no one is looking his way, they hadn’t really been subtle so it was no real surprise.  The real surprise was that he jumped on board, as had, it seems, others.

“If they are to fight this battle with us, what does it matter if they are Sith?  The Council agrees with this course of action, who are we to question it?” Micah winces.

“There is nothing wrong with questioning the Council, even we make mistakes sometimes.  If it does not put people in danger to do so then question us all you like, our decisions affect you all, you have every right to be a part of them.  But do believe that we do what we do for you all, we did not make this decision lightly, but we do trust these Sith and we believe that they are on our side.  Many changes are headed our way, we must look to the future with hope, not fear,” Micah announces earning many impressed and trusting looks from those around the room.

(You know what Tyranus,) Tahl thinks with a pleased smile on her face, (I have a good feeling about this too.)

 

Three weeks later and the rumours had spread like wild fire, the Council members got stopped in hallways to be questioned, many had heard several different versions of what happened in the commissary on that first day.  It was a controversial topic, everyone decided it was time.  Over the next week the final plans for the ‘information week’ were made before Mace used the loud speaker to address the entire temple.  They had been pretty sneaky and arranged to have every. Single. Jedi. In temple at this time, because of how hard it was to keep everyone here, they decided to make the information week start the day after the announcement.

“Fellow Jedi, this is Master Mace Windu.  Over the last month many rumours have been spread around the Temple, some wildly off base, others less so.  Because of the complicated nature of the answers to your questions, the Council and a few others have put together an information week for you all.  For now though, know that the Order is about to undergo many changes and we need your support.  For that you all need to understand what is going on, tomorrow morning at ninth hour Master Yoda and I will address you all again and some Padawans will be floating around with schedules for anyone who would like them.  More information will be given tomorrow morning, thank you for your patience in this time, may the force be with you.”

“That last part was a nice touch,” Mic tells Mace after he shuts off the loud speaker, Mace fixes him with an unimpressed stare. “What?”

“You’re an idiot.”


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Good morning everyone, as was said yesterday, we have an information week set up.  An opportunity for you to all ask questions and get some actual answers to them.  There is much that you do not know and some will be hard to accept, but I implore you to try.  A few years ago, one of our own, now-Knight Xanatos Du Crion, fell to the dark side of the force, or so we were led to believe.  We did not learn until a year later that his mind had been heavily influenced and his thoughts, his morals, his decisions had been forcefully changed.  His mind was no longer his own.  When Master Dooku and then-Padawan Aa confronted him, he fought back very nearly resulting in his death.  Then the man behind this fully possessed him, took over both his mind and his body.  We learnt that day two very important things, number one the Sith were not as extinct as we believed and two, our code was deeply flawed.  Had it been followed, and Xanatos killed, we would not be where we are today, we would still be blind to the threat this Sith poses.  This Sith’s name is Darth Wrath, once it was Darth Sidious but before that, before he was corrupted by the dark, his name was Cosinga Palpatine.  More information about Darth Wrath, Cosinga Palpatine, and Senator Sheev Palpatine will be provided at one of the locations yet to be mentioned.  After discovering and accepting the flaws within our own Order, a group of what was at first simply Jedi, began working to change it and combat the threat Darth Wrath posed.  We were guided and led by Master Arl Aa, who at the time, was a mere Padawan, but eventually we learnt to lead ourselves, find our own weaknesses and make them stronger.  Today this group has grown much and become rather complicated, many adventures and trials have come our way and this week you will have a chance to hear of all of them.  This group is composed of Master Arl Aa, Myself, Master Micah Giiett, Knight Quinlan Vos, Master Tholme, Master Tahl, Knight Bant Eerin, Healer Jale Terza, Padawan Bellan, Master Adi Gallia, Master Depa Billaba, Master Eeth Koth, Master Ki-Adi Mundi, Master Saesee Tiin, Master Yoda, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Plo Koon, Knight Xanatos Du Crion, Master Jey-Sahl Penn, Master Junahl Bordo, and Padawan Siri Tachi.  As many have heard, we also have some unexpected allies, the Sith.  There will be a chance to speak with us and with the Sith today, I implore you all to do so if only to learn the difference between these Sith and the Dark Sith we are currently up against, because believe you me, there is a difference.  These Sith were once Jedi, they stayed with the Order unknown to us for many years because they wanted to do good and because they care for all of us.  Do not feel betrayed, the fact that they stayed despite their shift in beliefs is all the proof you should need of whose side they are on.  These Sith are Darth Tyranus and Darth Anarch once though, they were Master Jard Dooku and Master Qui-Gon Jinn.  I am sure there are those of you who will struggle to accept this fact, but, as I said, there will be a chance to speak with them today,” Mace tells them all, it sounding both more and less complicated when said like this, the latter can likely be attributed to how much he has not said.

“More there is that believe right away you may not,” Yoda begins, “Master Arl Aa, special she is, advanced we all know her to be.  Know you do not the reason.  From a moment far from now she is, unbelievable it may be but true it is, the future she has lived but changed now it has drastically.  Memories from this future she gave to Obi-Wan Kenobi and with it struggles for him did come.  Captured he was in this future, tortured by the Sith.  Broken Ben Kenobi’s mind was, split it became, split our Little Obi is not but suffer from Ben’s fate he does. Created a Sith in him Future Darth Wrath did, Darth Sohn he was to protect Ben’s own mind he became.  Come out Obi-Wan is allowing him so that talk to him you may.  A Dark Sith he is but in danger you will not be.  Precautions we have taken though unneeded we believe them to be.  Obi-Wan’s fault or decision this Sith was not, nor was it Ben’s but consequences he must deal with.  Be nice to Obi-Wan you all will, even if off-put by Darth Sohn you are.”

“We decided long ago that change needed to come, so Arl and Tyranus came up with a plan for the Order and our group agreed with it all.  We have already begun implementing it but it has come time to involve all of you.  Details on this will be available today as well, but we learnt of our history and the truth of it.  We now know for a fact, the learning of which you can speak with Knight Vos about today, that the Sith, the Jedi, and another group were once a part of the same Order before it split for numerous reasons.  Details on this history will be available from Master Tahl and Padawan Eerin.  We had many reasons for this decision, a few far less important now than they seemed when this venture began but it matters little, the Council and the Sith decided we would create a new Order, an Order Of The Force.  Of every part of the force, and we would use it to help people.  Sith, Jedi, and a new third sect known as Custos, working in tandem to protect peace as well as the people of this galaxy.  We soon came to the realisation that we would need volunteers to train under Darth Anarch, Darth Tyranus, and Master Kenobi, they would need to be force sensitive and of an age to be able to help.  It became clear these volunteers would have to come from within our own ranks, but we were not sure that Jedi could be trained to be true Sith without renouncing the Order in some way.  We did a test run, as many are aware Padawan Garen Muln switched Masters from Master Giiett to Qui-Gon Jinn whom you now know to be the Sith Lord Anarch.  He volunteered to be a trial and after getting the agreement from every person in our core group we allowed it to be undertaken under close supervision.  Sith Apprentice Muln will be available with both his current Master and former-Master to answer your questions regarding his training and his decision.  In the creche some changes have already begun, Master Penn and the initiates will be there to answer your questions and walk you through the new curriculum.  For Schedules, Padawan Siri Tachi, Padawan Thelm Gart, Initiate Bhaille, Initiate Chaill, Padawan Siuthad, and Padawan Danvire will be around.  I know this is a lot of information to be given so quickly, but we’ve done the best we can.  This has been well thought through over the past few years, so please, take this week to understand what it is that is happening and keep an open mind.  I hope to speak with you all over the coming days, may the force be with you all,” Mace tells them.

“Officially beginning this information week is,” Yoda concludes.  At first there was dead silence as no one in the hallways moved.  Noticing this Siri, who was in the commissary, stood up on a table.

“WELL YOU HEARD THE MAN, SCHEDULES OVER HERE, LOTS TO SEE, LOTS TO LEARN, HAVE A PLEASANT WEEK EVERYONE!” Siri yells, a tad unnecessary given the silence but it did the job, Bhaille shook his head fondly at the display.

 

 

Training Salle 1 – Darth Tyranus and Darth Sohn for information regarding Sith and Dark Sith.  30 minutes past 9th hour.

 

“Would you stop that already!” Dooku requests of Sohn who has been flipping his knife in his hand for the past half an hour while waiting in the salle for things to begin.

“What?  Afraid I’ll stab you?”

“Me? No, others that will likely not react well to you?  _Emphatically_ yes,” He replies.

“Now now Ty, I did say I’d play nice.”

“You also said you wouldn’t bring any weapons.”

“Knives aren’t weapons Apprentice of my Master, they are toys.”

“And this is why I do not trust you not to stab someone, you irresponsible jackass.”

“Are you two done?” Knight Reeft asks as he stands in the doorway, a bunch of people waiting to come in.

“Our apologies…” Dooku begins saying before Sohn interrupts.

“Don’t speak for me, I’m not apologising for shit.”

“Please come in,” He continues pointedly ignoring the Dark Sith’s comment.

A few minutes later the salle stands were full as was a good portion of the floor.  The two Sith were sat on two chairs in the centre of the room, quite a vulnerable and disconcerting position that put them both on edge, hence Sohn’s terrible mood.

“Now before we begin I wish to reassure you all, we understand this situation may put some of you on edge, for your comfort and safety should my colleague here lose his shit, there are armed Jedi Shadows around the room,” Dooku tells them looking over the crowd filled with faces ranging from Curious, to suspicious, and to scared, “Now, we are here to tell you all and demonstrate the difference between a Sith such as myself and a Dark Sith.”

“That would be me,” Sohn adds with a feral grin that sent shivers down _Dooku_ ’s spine, let alone everyone else’s.

“We are also here to answer any questions you might have.  I also request that should any of you feel the need to yell at either myself or my former Apprentice Anarch for lying to you all, you do it at me.  I am the one who trained him and am therefore responsible for his actions and will accept any and all consequences for them.”

“How do you constantly manage to take the dark out of the darkside?  You ruin all the fun of being Sith,” Sohn tells him, Dooku rolls his eyes.

“Not everyone finds murderous rampages ‘fun’, Obi.”

“How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

“About as many as I’ve ignored.”

“Well this fell apart quickly, nice to know broken future Obi-Wan was as much of a dick as our Little Obi,” Reeft tells them, “It is really weird to look at you and you not really be Obi-Wan.”

“Oh, I am Obi-Wan, there is a lot less difference between this version of me and that version of me than I often care to admit.  I’m just going to clear this up now so we can move on.  When my future self, whom we refer to as Ben because futuristic reference none but A-Arl and I would understand, was with Darth Sidious and tortured, well he’d literally been through a war.  And the death of his sister, the fall of his brother, and a whole bunch of other terrible crap that had broken him in many ways, that time in the company of the Sith crumbled what was already crumbling.  His mind attempted to defend itself and built something as dark as what was attacking around the broken remnants of Ben, that is what I am. So, I am what Ben would be like had he truly given in and become a Sith but because of a bunch of factors I’m reasonably mellowed out.  I am explaining this to you mainly because I’ve been instructed to make you all aware of the Dark Sith and the Sith, I am the closest thing to a Dark Sith we have yet I still am not evil, not like Wrath is,” Sohn tells them growing serious so quickly it frightened many, especially the intense stare he subjected them all too, it made it hard to ignore the sithly yellow eyes.

“What is the difference?  Between Sith and Dark Sith, and between you and Wrath?” Someone in the crowd asks.

“Sith follow a code just as you do, how they chose to follow it is where the real difference is.  Unlike your Jedi code, the Sith code requires a bit of interpretation, those who use it to justify evil doings are Dark Sith.  I follow it and I help and protect people.  That is the difference really, I have morals,” Dooku explains.

“And you do not?” The same person asks Sohn.

“This is where the difference between Wrath and I comes in.  I do not have morals, I do not care for right and wrong, good or evil, I just do whatever the fuck I feel like and I’m all good with that same as him.  But as I said, I am Ben, and once upon a time Ben was Obi-Wan.  Obi-Wan is loyal to you and that follows over to me, kriffing feelings and care of Ben’s spill into me, it’s what holds the pieces of him that make up me together.  Wrath doesn’t have that, he is loyal to no one but himself and he cares for no one.”

“Does that make him more or less dangerous than you?” Reeft asks, Sohn smiles before turning to Dooku.

“I like that one.”

“You can’t keep him.” Sohn rolls his eyes before turning back to answer the question.

“Depends on the situation really.  And on one’s interpretation of events, Wrath would consider my care and loyalty to all of you a weakness, he knows you could all be used to best me.  Yet if someone were to threaten you I would likely peel the meat from their bones with my teeth, hence the reliance on perception.”

“That was very visual,” Reeft replies looking mildly disturbed.

“Have you ever viciously attacked someone to protect one of us, in the future or now?” A young initiate asks, Sohn fixes her to a stare of intense scrutiny before smiling.

“Thought you sounded familiar, Bariss Offee right?” He asks, she nods looking confused, “I knew the future version of you, it’s still weird seeing everyone be so young again.  Anyway, yes I have.  Do you want a description or are you happy just leaving it as ‘gruesome?’”

“I think I shall regret it but I kind of want the description now.”

“You cannot keep her either,” Tyranus tells him when he sees the amusement dancing in the man’s eyes, Sohn rolls his eyes.

“Believe me, her Master made that abundantly clear in the future, I guarantee she’d come back and follow through on her threat in some magical way if I tried.  Anyway, I tore out a man’s jugular using the force.  Then I made him chew on it.  He was obviously already dead by that point but others were watching and I was setting an example.”

“Why in all the kriffing hells would you _do_ that?” Dooku asks looking rather disturbed, Sohn’s expression darkens rapidly, the Shadows grabbing their lightsaber hilts though they do not yet ignite them.

“He was going, to hurt. My. Padawan,” He spits through gritted teeth.

“Yes, that would do it.”

“Would you do that?  If someone threatened Xanatos?  Wait was he your Padawan or your Apprentice?”

“He has always been a Jedi, both Qui-Gon and myself were training him as a Jedi, at that time no one even knew we were Sith.  And while I would not do that, I would make them very very dead.”

“What about your ‘Morals’?” A new voice asks, clearly not one that likes them.

“Everyone is capable of breaking their morals if pushed into the right situation, I am capable of recognising those circumstances and avoiding them when possible, can you?”

“I would never kill someone out of revenge.”

“You say revenge, I say protection.  I also say you are naïve and blind.  I am not a Dark Sith but I was trained by one.  I am well aware of the different ways you can push a Jedi past their limits, if you truly believe you are an exception to that you are the worst Jedi I’ve come across since I was still trying to actually be one.”

“Well, this was fun,” Reeft says awkwardly after a few moments of silence.

“Perhaps not evil, but still a Sith.  I think I understand now, or am at least beginning to,” Bariss tells them, murmurs of agreement spread throughout the salle.

“Why did you do it?  Why become a Sith?”

“I have always disliked the way Jedi do things, I was here because I wanted to help people but found I could not while following your code and your rules.  After I became a Sith Apprentice, my Master urged me to stay in the Jedi and one day help to destroy you all.  Then he did something I very much disagreed with and I tried to kill him, which did not go my way, regardless it made me remember why I agreed to join him in the first place.  I stayed here in the Jedi and completed missions but I did it as I believed a Sith should, as a good person should.”

“You have to be the only Jedi in existence to join the Sith because you believed it was the right thing to do,” Obi-Wan comments, drawing attention to the fact that Sohn had dissipated somewhat.

“Okay one, Garen did the same thing and for two, go away we need Sohn.” Obi rolls his eyes.

“Hey, you guys were the ones banging on about recovery and reintegration and shit, suddenly it’s my fault I can’t stay crazy.  I tried, you’re going to have to trigger it if you want me to split again.” Dooku grimaces.

“Well then, everyone is about to get a lesson in what happens when you trigger a Dark Sith’s rage centred on their desire to protect those they love.  Shadow whose name I have forgotten, get over here and be prepared to subdue him should this get out of control.  No one say anything to piss him off before he settles somewhat again.”  The Shadow moves over to them as the others move to high alert, Dooku steps away from Obi slightly, “Let it happen, don’t lose progress,” He tells Obi who nods, “Crap what triggers are even left?”

“Three days,” Obi tells him though he seems to do it while trying not to think about it.

“Stop fighting it Obi-Wan, and remember.  Remember Xanatos grabbing my lightsaber and stabbing himself, remember Arlie in a coma downstairs, remember whose fault that is, remem-remember…remember she may not wake up,” He tells Obi-Wan who closes his eyes as his face contorts in rage, when he opens his eyes they are bright yellow.

“Oh, I do so love having full control,” Sohn says his voice coming out terrifyingly sweet.

“Yeah, this went further than you meant it to,” Reeft comments noticing Dooku’s frustrated expression, Sohn’s was one of manic glee.

“Anyone have any kriffing questions to ask before I keep a guy alive as long as possible while I strip away slices of his spleen?” Sohn asks, the Shadows enter battle stances, Sohn looks around, “Oh you lot are adorable, go on then, if you think you can stop me,” He challenges standing up and opening himself up to attack, taunting them to take the opportunity.

“They may not be able to but at the very least Sohn I can, so sit your arse down,” Dooku tells him commandingly, Sohn turns his eyes to him, filling them with mock sympathy.

“You could, but you won’t.  Imagine what these people would think of you then?  Not gonna help your pet project if they don’t trust you, is it?”

“Their trust is meaningless compared to saving Obi-Wan from more pain.  I do not care if they trust and believe me Sohn, I am here because I care for them, and for you.  I know that you do to, so sit down, answer their questions, and help them save themselves.” Sohn contemplates him for a moment before seeming really pissed off with himself.

“Ughh,” He complains as he sits back down, Dooku follows suit, the Shadows stand down and retake their original positions once more.

“Jedi choose strangers over their own, Sith choose their own over strangers.”

“An apt description Kni…uh…pada-no not yet…Initiate Secura,” Sohn says, getting there eventually, “Sorry, such an intense switch can leave me a little confused, that mixed with time displacement just, anyway.  Sith will not necessarily choose their own when speaking of other Sith.  It is more they will choose those they’ve claimed as their own or as kin.  I, for instance, would choose anyone in this Order over a bunch of random strangers.  Dooku is weird and would have some sense of, billions of people over one person, no matter how important to him, or some such crap.  That being said, he’d probably burn down an entire planet to save anyone here if he felt the planet deserved it.”  All looked to Dooku for confirmation or denial.

“I mean, maybe not the _whole_ planet.”

“Future you led a galaxy wide war to save Xan despite him never having been your Padawan,” Sohn tells him, Dooku rears back in shock.

“ _THAT_ _’_ _S_ why I did that?  What the fuck kind of logic is that?!”

“Well I assume he influenced your mind some to make it make more sense, especially given you later killed Xan anyway, then again that may have been you recognising it was how you needed to save him.  Fuck knows, don’t care, either way you were a complete fucking bastard.  But hey, if you don’t find murderous rampages fun let’s not talk about the fucking war,” He says, his voice growing strained, Dooku sees his hand on the edge of his chair white knuckling it with the effort of staying in control of his anger.

“We were digressing again anyway.”

“When don’t we though?”

“True, we do have a terrible habit of it.” Sohn starts laughing, “What?”

“Now we are digressing about us digressing.”

“You’re an idiot.”

 

 

Training Salle 2 – Darth Anarch, Micah, and Garen on Sith training and why he chose to do it 10th hour.

 

“Have you ever thrown force lightning?”  After half an hour of stupid questions determining that it was his choice and he hadn’t turned evil, the conversation in training salle 2 had digressed to ‘how many Sithly things that we aren’t allowed to do have you done?’.  Garen was having some fun, Micah was sighing a lot, and Qui-Gon thought it was fucking hilarious.

“Oh, believe me, he’s thrown it,” Qui grumbled, Mic snickers.

“I _said_ I was sorry Master!”

“Sorry didn’t de-static my hair, Apprentice.”

“Of course not Master,” Garen says with a fond sigh, he was not facing his Master and could not see the amused smile on his face, he knew it was there though.

“What was it like?” Bellan asks from the doorway.

“Aren’t you meant to be with Quin?” Garen asks incredulously, she shrugs.

“Yeah, someone asked him what Arl was like when she first came here and he didn’t know, Xanatos was about to strangle someone, so I thought I’d make the walk here instead of just down the hall to him and ask Mic instead.  Now I’m curious though.”

“Ever had an electric shock from something?” Bellan nods, “It’s like that except the surprise and small amount of pain is replaced with a rush of power and feelings of safety.  The force feels like it’s flowing through you and out of your fingertips but sort of, charged?  It’s hard to explain,” Garen says, “Though there is a bit of pain.”

“That’s because you aren’t channelling it properly.” Garen sighs.

“Well then how do you channel it?”

“Can I tell you? Last time I tried you shot force lightning at me.”

“You were repeating the same thing over and over again!”

“And clearly you still haven’t listened.”

“I am going to stop you both right there because this argument has been going on for closing in on six months, what was Arl like when she first got here?” Bellan asks, Mic looks to her as he thinks back.

“Damn that was only five years ago, um she was fun.  She seemed very care-free at times yet had the weight of the world on her shoulders at others, it did not take long to figure out which was truth.  She was also fallen at the time, wasn’t until two years later that she ‘unfell’.  She had some adjustment issues, with the whole being back in time again thing.  Of course, we didn’t know that at the time so we attributed it to the kidnapping and slavery rather than ‘she’s forty-one years older than she looks’.  Other than that, pretty much the same as she is now…or…was four months ago.” Mic says looking a little lost at the end, Bellan blinked back tears of her own.

“Thanks, apologies for the interruption,” Bellan says before bowing hurriedly and leaving.

“Master Giiett, what made you agree to letting your Padawan become a Sith Apprentice?  How are you okay with him being everything you were raised to want dead?” An audience member asks, Mic looks to his Padawan who is looking rather warily at him, he smiles, suddenly at peace.

“The Jedi were wrong about the Sith, I won’t hold that against them.  Qui has been my friend since I was eight years old, I knew him long before he was a Sith and I’ve known him long since.  Nothing really changed, I’ve always trusted him with my Padawan, the reveal did not change that.  He isn’t everything I was raised to want dead, he’s everything I was raised to believe did not exist, yet here he is as living proof.  In the end, it comes down to the fact that Garen wasn’t joining the Sith in the sense that we know them, he was joining a group of people that help people in a different capacity than we do and which suited him better.  It is a Master’s duty to put what is best for their Padawan above their own desire to do it all themselves,” Micah responds, looking proudly at his Padawan, _his_ Padawan, and also at one of his best friends.  Both of them smiled back, it was the nicest moment Anarch and Mic had had since the reveal, though something in Mic’s eyes makes Qui-Gon think their troubles were far from over.

“Do you ever regret your choice Sith Apprentice Muln?” Someone asks, Garen thinks it over, both of his Masters listening for the answer intently.

“I suppose I sometimes miss my old Master being my Master, and I get nostalgic at times.  But in the end, I didn’t lose anything, I gained a lot, so no, I don’t regret it and I never have.”

“What about when Siri punched you and scolded you for not telling her?”  Mic asks, Garen laughs.

“No, that made me regret being born at all,” He corrects, chuckles resound throughout the salle.

 

 

Meeting Room – Mace and Yoda on the plans for the new order 11th hour.

“You want Jedi to sign on to become Sith or Custos?” Piell asks to clarify, Mace nods, “You have officially gone mad,” He says though he doesn’t sound against the idea, it was more of a passing statement.

“With all the clandestine meetings and whatnot we were trying to work out what you were up to, this was not on the list.  I am very glad I stepped down when I did, I’ve no idea what happened that brought all this about but it sounds far too complicated and ridiculous for me to want any part in dealing with it.  Still, this is a solid plan you have got here and I have faith in you having damned good reasoning.  It may not mean much anymore but, you have my support in this venture,” Yarael tells them.

“Mine as well,” Even adds, Mace smiles at them both and bows.

“It means a great deal, my friends.”

“Matter to us your opinion does greatly.”

“If you want to know what happened though, the stalls in classrooms 12, 13, and 14 will answer those questions.  Otherwise, people are around to ask,” Mace tells them with a smile before his attention is called away somewhere else.

“He’s different when working than when we were on the council,” Even tells Yoda who smiles and nods.

“Happy he is, save us all he thinks we can.”

“Can you?” Poof asks, Yoda shakes his head.

“No, but all together save us we can,” He says feeling the truth of the statement in his very bones, even the force believed it.  That reassured him even though he knew the force not to be omnipotent, one day soon it would be time to bring everyone in on his own secret.  But not now, Sohn would likely kill him for something he hadn’t even done yet.  (Soon,) he thinks, (Tell them I will, one day soon.  Today that day is not.)

 

 

Classroom 12 – Bant and Tahl on the history of the Order 12th hour.

“How did we not know any of this?” Jocasta asks sounding very distressed.

“How could we have realistically known that 13’000 years ago there was a single town that spoke near perfect Basic to then know the documents were not faked?” Bant asks.

“I may have to concede to your point dear but that does not mean I have to be happy about it,” She replies, Bant smiles knowingly.

“Believe me, I understand the distress.”

“You’ve certainly spent enough time in those archives,” Sohn says leaning against the wall of the room, Bant glowers at him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be humouring some untrusting Jedi?”

“Testy aren’t we.  I meant it as a compliment anyway, to be informed is to be alive.” Bant looks surprised.

“You really believe that?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“I suppose I never picked Dark Sith to be the type for reading.”

“Well, to be honest, most of what I know of history is either from Arlie jabbering on or my Lord jabbering on.  When I read it’s for fun or my own research into things that interest me more than knowing how other people have succeeded or fucked up.  That’s always more entertaining in legends anyway, plus not knowing the actual history means you get to pull apart old legends and stories to try and find the truth beneath.  I did it all the time when I was living on Tatooine.”

“But then how do you know if the truth you think you’ve found is real?”

“Real is a relative term, whatever truth I discover will have been born from my perception, therefore the truth I find is the truth I need to find.  That makes it real enough for my purposes, or at least the purposes of a traumatised old man living alone in a desert for years.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”  Sohn moves closer to stand beside her, she could not help but notice the suspicious and wary looks being sent his way though he pretended not to notice.

“Before I was captured, before I was a Sith, I loved reading.  History, cultures, languages.  I was a brilliant diplomat, knowing the political back ground is pretty important, but I enjoyed learning it all and always delved further into each planet’s history.  Somehow though, I did not in our own, even when Arl proved what we knew wrong several times.  No one looked, they just rolled with the punches trying to survive.  The Order is wiser this time Bant, and you are part of the reason why.  I just thought you should know that,” He tells her, “Anyway, my lunch break is over.  Enjoy your day,” He tells her even as she stares at him in shock, “Master Nu,” He says bowing respectfully.

“Lord Sohn,” She replies in kind earning a small but genuine smile from the man.

“Are you all right Padawan?” Tahl asks ten minutes later when she notices her Padawan seems distracted even as she answered many questions and explained the true history of the Order.

“Yes, Master I just, I suppose we keep trying to help Obi reintegrate the different parts of himself yet, I had not done it in my own head.  I didn’t really realise the truth but, Obi-Wan is my best friend.  Every part of him.”

 

 

Classroom 13 – Quinlan and Bellan on the Adventures they’d all been through 14th hour

“What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you?”

“When did you join Arl and Dooku?”

“Do you ever wish you hadn’t met?”

“Ever think you were going to die?”

“When did you find out Dooku’s a Sith?”

“Do you wish he weren’t?”

“Stop!  He can answer only one question at a time and may I remind you all that he cannot hear you, I have to tell him what you are saying and I’m only giving him one question at a time.  So be patient!” Bellan demands to the group in the classroom.  Unlike Bant and Tahl’s room, they had nothing for people to see, it was just come in and ask questions.  So early in the day they put a maximum of people that could enter, they’d ask questions for maximum of an hour and then swap for a new group.  Now everyone was sat in the chairs while Bellan stood up the front yelling at them and Quin leaned against the desk waiting for her to tell him what’s going on,  “Thank you, now we’ll start with that first question,” She says before looking at Quin while she translates it, his face scrunches in thought, (the craziest thing?)

[Either going 13’000 years back in time or the first time I went into the mindscape.] He signs to Bellan, Terza had worked often with him, Dooku, and Bellan to teach them sign language.  If he stumbled or didn’t know something both could hear him telepathically so they were chosen to learn it with him first.  Bellan was also teaching him to transmit his thoughts into people’s minds but it was a lot harder to learn than hand gestures.  There was not a word for ‘mindscape’ so he just gestured vaguely to his head, Bellan sniggers at it.

“Either going 13’000 years back in time or the first time he went into the mindscape,” She tells them, they seem both shocked and confused.

“We knew about Aa’s time travel, but they did it too?”

“Yes, we needed to know what happened to the Order so they went back to find out.  Tahl and her former Padawan explained it a little in their room,” Someone in the crowd says.  Bellan smiles, glad that things were slotting together.

“Exactly, they spent about a month there before they had to come back because of…actually I don’t know, one moment.” Bellan signs her question to Quin who signs back.

“Damn the whole village?” A crowd member asks, Bellan looks in confusion to the initiate, “My father’s deaf, Master Penn taught me sign language so that I could speak to him,” She explains.

“Nice, anyways the village they were in was destroyed in a battle, seriously can you guys go anywhere without breaking things?” She asks out loud as she signs. “We did not break it, we stayed out of it because time pollution…oh history.  You didn’t want to be too involved in case you changed history too much,” She realises, he nods since she was signing as she spoke again.

“What’s the mindscape?” The same initiate asks, she was in the second row so she simply stood up and signed it to him herself, Quin smiles thankful of the effort and of being able to talk to someone without going through Bellan or Dooku.

[It is when you go into someone’s mind and delve in deeper.  It’s kind of like a world where all the minds of people are literally connected through bonds and such, for instance we travelled through Xan’s mind into the mind of the man possessing him.  Or actually into the mind of another man the same guy was possessing, then through the bond between that man and the possessing man’s Apprentice.  Then into his brother’s mind as well before making our way back after finding Xan and returning him to his mind.]

[Why was Knight Xanatos is someone else’s mind?] The girl asks, Bellan translates the whole conversation as it is happening for the benefit of the other occupants of the room.

[Wrath had taken over again, he was trying to protect Arlie by leading him out of his mind and basically making Wrath chase him across the mindscape.  He had to stop in the mind of Wrath’s Apprentice’s brother when Wrath caught up to him.]

[How’d you all get out?]

[Well, my mind was literally falling to pieces and Xan was unconscious so Tyranus told me to take Xan back and let he and Arl deal with it.  I tried but crumbled too much part of the way, luckily Xan woke up and took me the rest of the way, I woke up a while later and the other two were still in there.]

[How’d they get out?]

[Darth Maul’s brother was being tortured by another Sith, Darth Plagueis, whom Arlie had met.  They got help from him and went into his mind and through a dormant bond to get back into Arlie’s mind before severing said bond.]

[Sounds like you guys have met a lot of Sith, I suppose it is safe to say you would know the difference between a Dark Sith and a Sith like Lord Tyranus?] She asks, there isn’t a word for Tyranus either so she says it to Bellan who transmits it.

[I would like to think so yes.  Have you spoken with him?] Quin asks, sensing her ease with Ty being around, she nods.

[He and Sohn, and for a time Master Kenobi too before Lord Tyranus split him again and nearly sent Darth Sohn on a rampage.]

[You call Ty Lord but Sohn Darth?]  It sounded weird to the other occupants of the room when one of them would have to get Bellan to translate a name in either direction but since she was still translating the entire conversation it was not too bad.

[Well both are correct titles for a Sith but one means ‘dark’ and since we have established that Lord Tyranus is not a Dark Sith it made little sense to me to use that specific title.  Right now, we are all learning the difference, separating the two in my mind in such a way helps me remember which type I am talking about.]  Quin looks at her thoughtfully for a moment, a happy smile on his face.

[What’s your name kid?]

“Initiate Aayla Secura,” She says aloud for Bellan to translate since none of the above words had signs, [Out of curiosity, are you planning on just avoiding names in the future?]

[Until I learn how to transmit thoughts properly, yes.]

[Maybe someone should at least suggest that be an offered lesson when in the creche should people wish to learn it, having more people among the Jedi that can communicate with Deaf or mute people properly can’t be a bad thing, especially now that one of our own relies on it.]

[Previously deaf Masters, Knights, or Padawans speak it.  There are not many but they exist, however Arl healed all their injuries or suggested bionics that were around in the future if those that created them are in Temple so that they are made again.  None of which could help me nor could anyone heal this particular injury so I am now the only deaf Jedi, Sith, or Custos.  But yes, that should be brought up with her.  If you’d like, you and I could speak to her about it when this finishes for the day at 17th hour?] Aayla nods happily.

[I’d like that.]

[What are you so happy about?]

[I like helping people, it makes me happy.]

 

 

Classroom 14 – Xanatos and Junahl on Darth Wrath/Sidious and the Palpatines

“Okay so, Darth Wrath used to be Darth Sidious until Dooku killed him and he became a disembodied spirit that goes around possessing people and mucking with their minds, namely his son who he now refers to as a separate entity of Darth Sidious who is Master Windu’s half-brother and Obi’s birth father not to be confused with his adoptive father who is also Arlie’s step-father from the future and likely at some point the present as well?” Reeft asks, Xan nods, “My girlfriend is terrible at keeping me updated in her life,” He says resigned, Xan laughs with him.

“I mean, to be fair, how likely were you to believe all of that _plus_ everything else?”

“Not likely at all.  I suppose that is a definite sign of something broken in the Order, we’ve got is much proof right in front of us all around the Temple yet still so many cannot accept what they are seeing as truth.”

“We will evolve past that, that is, after all, why this is all happening,” Master Clee Rhara says as she walks over to them.

“Master Clee!” Xan says happily, she was a friend of Qui-Gon’s and had been around a lot early on in his training but had not been back at the temple in quite sometime.

“Hey Xanny.” Xan glares at her as Reeft laughs.

“That never gets back to Garen or Arl,” He tells him sternly.

“Awww but Xaaaannnyyyyy,” Reeft whines, Clee laughs.

“You both suck,” He says before laughing with them, “Have you seen Master Qui-Gon yet?”

“Should we not be calling him Lord Anarch or some shit?” She asks sourly though without hate or fear.

“Possibly, but Master only became commonly referred to as Tyranus among the group after Quin and Arl picked a short name for him.  They’ve yet to do so with Anarch, Quin’s working on it.  Until then I doubt it’ll catch on much unfortunately.” Clee smiles.

“It’ll catch on if we make it catch on, and no I have not seen Anarch yet.”

“You are angry with him,” Reeft observes, Clee sighs.

“He is a few years older than me, when I was a toddler he would read to me, he taught me Basic when I first arrived since my parents were from the outer rim and spoke Huttese.  He’s always watched out for me and is like an older brother to me.  I don’t care that he’s a Sith, I’ve seen enough today to know he isn’t evil or crazy, but he lied to me.  That is what I am upset about,” She explains, Xan looks behind her before looking at her with a smile.

“So tell him that,” He says nodding behind her, she turns to see Qui-Gon entering the room.

“Hey stranger,” He says cheerily when he walks over, Reeft and Xan awkwardly drift away to talk to each other separately.

“Hello Anarch,” She replies, he watches her closely for traces of malice, but her annoyance left the building the minute he spoke, “I missed you,” She tells him, he knows what she means and smiles.

 _‘_ _You used to be so open and trusting, you told me everything but now you barely speak at all!  I_ miss _you Qui!_ _’_ _Thirteen-year-old Clee tells her friend and brother.  At twenty she said the same thing, at twenty-five, at thirty-one._

_‘_ _I_ _’_ _m sorry._ _’_ _He replies as he grabs his bag for his mission and leaves. He would say the same every time, when he was forty-five he and Xan came back from a mission and for the first time, she was not there to greet them._

“You don’t have to anymore.”

 

 

Crèche – Jey-Sahl and the Initiates on their new curriculum 16th hour

 

“We learnt a few weeks ago for the first time that there is a difference between Dark Sith and Sith.  Master Penn tells us that being a Sith isn’t bad unless you’re hurting people but I think that’s the same with everything,” Roland tells a group of people.

“ _Being a bounty hunter is still illegal even if you don_ _’_ _t hurt people,_ ” Tilli tells her best friend, glad that all Jedi speak Shyriiwook.

“Just coz it’s illegal doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means you can’t do it. That’s what Ani said when we were talking about eticcs.”

“ _Ethics,_ ” Tilli corrects.

“Thank you, he said that if someone is stealing but they are doing it to help people it’s not a bad thing but it’s still illegal so you will get in trouble.”

“This took an amusing turn,” Master Luminara Unduli says with a smile, “Do you like learning about the Sith in this new way?”

“ _It_ _’_ _s correct and it would be silly to learn something wrong on purpose,_ ” Tilli says as she scrunches her face.

“Well, no one can argue with that logic,” She replies, bowing to the two initiates and smiling with a small nod to Jey-Sahl who smiles and nods back.  Luminara was now on their side.

 

Eight days later, the group convened in the meeting room once more with two extra occupants, Quin’s new Padawan Aayla Secura, and Clee Rhara who had regained a close relationship with Qui-Gon and had yet to allow him more than thirty feet of freedom.  He was not exactly complaining, Obi-Wan was another matter but Qui had plenty of ammunition to fire back on that one so neither was even approaching the subject.

“Where’s Obi?” Mic asks when he realises Obi’s the only one who hasn’t arrived, “And what happened to your face?” He asks Garen who’s face Terza is currently healing from what looks to be a pretty bad black eye.

“Obi is still Sohn,” Qui-Gon says glaring at Dooku.

“Oops.”

“He was stopping by Arlie’s room on the way here because _someone_ made him fixate.”

“Hey, you guys wanted Sohn, I got him.”

“And split my…former Padawan’s mind again.”

“The split was already there Qui I just bashed it open again, this particular trigger was already there, now at least he can address it.”

“And address it he apparently has,” Siri says seeing him walk in, Obi smiles at her.  “Hey Little Obi, how ya doing?”

“Shmi’s moving in with Dad tomorrow when he and Owen finally pick up the damned furniture they ordered and can live there.  So pretty good, much as I’ll miss them being right here, it’s nice they are getting their shit together.” He sees Aayla and smiles, “Congratulations Padawan Secura.  When’s the ceremony?”

“Later today,” Mace answers, Obi looks at him oddly for a moment before shaking his head and snapping out of it, he then glares at Dooku.

“Next time I come up with an idea like that, don’t do it, just fucking shoot me.”

“Time displacement?” Dooku guesses, he nods.

“Has Owen considered how he’s going to continue sneaking into creche classes if he isn’t living here?” Adi asks, Obi shrugs.

“Dad probably mentioned it, he and Ani did seem a little down but I’m sure they’ll sort something out.”

“He could always join the creche,” Penn suggests earning a few weird looks.

“Well she’s not wrong, kid’s a genius, he’s trained in the ways of the force.  Up to date on all the classes, knows how things run here, and he has a working partnership with another Initiate.  I’d recommend he stay with Anakin’s year level so that he’s not having to catch up on old work while we still introduce the new curriculum but, I’ve no doubt he’d pass the Initiates test,” Mic tells him, no one voices a disagreement.

“I will put it to him and Dad,” Obi tells them, “Now, how’d we go last week?”  He notices Aayla signing as the conversation goes on so that Quin doesn’t have to wait for someone to tell him, he knows as it’s happening, he thinks that’s probably a big relief for him.

“Better than we expected honestly, no one rioted, well, that we knew of,” Mace says looking to Garen.

“This had nothing to do with my being a Sith.  Well not directly me anyway, and it wasn’t a riot technically since I threw the first punch.”  Mic was still biting back the urge to scold his former Padawan even six months after he became Qui-Gon’s Apprentice.

“Garen, why?” Qui asks sounding like he was going to lecture before he changed tactics.

“Bruck called Arlie a traitor, I punched him in the throat, he went down like a sack of Bantha shit.”

“If he went down how did you get the black eye?” Clee asks, Garen gets a rueful smile on his face.

“Don’t start a fight with an imbisule in front of said imbisule’s cronies unless you are prepared to fight them all?” He offers meekly.

“Garen!”

“I’m sorry Master but I think you should be proud of me more than angry for two reasons, I realise it is unbecoming to fight with people over such things but I was protecting my friend who is currently unable to protect herself.  She deserves better than that after everything she’s done for us, all of us.”

“What was the second reason?” Dooku asks after a few moments silent reflection.

“I won.”

“So where do we go from here?” Tholme asks after snickers, laughter, and exasperated looks cease.  The most amusing part, in his opinion, was the proud looks on Qui and Mic’s faces.

“Well we have the support of most of the Order now which was our intention,” Tahl tells them, “Now we move forward.  People accept the difference between Dark Sith and Sith, most even accept that there is nothing wrong with being a Sith, but that doesn’t mean they are going to join them.”

“So why don’t we get non-Jedi to do it?” Clee asks.

“How many adult force-sensitives that aren’t a part of the Order do you know?” Bant asks earning a reproachful look from her Master.

“Anyone can learn to use the force Padawan, I had a midi count of 1’003 when I was born,” Clee answers, everyone seems confused except Yoda.

“That’s not enough for entry into the creche,” Ki-Adi tells her, she smiles.

“I passed the Initiates test, no one but Master Yoda was aware I think.”

“But your count is higher than that now,” Terza says looking to her, she nods giving permission for her to say, “It’s now at 13’012.”

“Exactly.  Obi-Wan, do you have any idea what your brother’s count was at birth?”

“Which brother?”

“Owen.”

“Umm 503 I believe.”  Everyone looks surprised save for Obi, Terza, Clee, and Yoda.  Yoda looks like a smug shit actually.

“I am so glad Arlie is not here right now,” Garen says with a smirk, “Last time Yoda looked like that around her was in the other timeline and prompted the first time she ever hit him in the head with his own gimmer stick.”

“First time?” Bellan asks sounding far too amused while Aayla asks, “Master _Aa_ hit Master Yoda?”

“Three times all up, yes they did not get along in the other timeline.  Actually, Arl once drove all the air from his lungs with no hesitation.  Not to mention the amount of times he threatened to kick her out of the Order.  Their rivalry was legendary, it was years before they got through a Council meeting without an argument, that was before she was even _on_ the Council,” Obi explains fondly.

“I’m curious, why the difference now?” Clee asks, everyone looks to Obi-Wan not sure of the answer, he smirks.

“That is a matter of opinion, she would say Yoda is far less of a pig-headed dick this time, I tend to agree.  But given they’ve gotten along better from the first moment they met, that can’t be the only reason.  I wasn’t in the room either time when she was first brought in so I don’t know the specifics, but my guess is forty-eight-year-old Arlie made a better first impression than pissed off and cynical seventeen-year-old Arlie did.  Not that she would ever admit that but she was not a happy person that first time around and she was stubborn as fuck.”

“She’s stubborn now,” Mace says, Obi laughs.

“Yes, but before she was, more than a little stubborn to a fault.  She ever tell you that it was two years after getting here before she picked up a lightsaber?  She pointedly refused before then, she was always arguing that the Jedi were wrong and their code stupid.  Which, I suppose, she also does now but she wouldn’t listen before and didn’t have the information, it was more of an arrogant ‘I’m right and you’re wrong so why are we even still talking about this?’ kind of thing,” He explains.

“That just doesn’t sound like Arlie,” Aayla tells them as Quin signs it, “I can definitely see her being like that as an actual teenager though, not this half teenager…I am going to leave out the obscenities…thing she’s going through now.”

“Yes, you do all have to remember that when you met, she was an accomplished Jedi Master and war veteran who was trained by Master Windu for many years.  Last time we all shaped her a lot, this time she is shaping us.  It means you guys see her in a very different light than other you did,” Obi-Wan tells them, they all nod in agreement.

“If we can get some Jedi to agree to be Custos we can recruit others to do the same and also be Sith.  Which would also be easier if some Jedi agreed to that as well,” Clee suggests bringing them back on topic.

“Oh, someone to control the digressing,” Kit says happily, Clee looks amused.

“Which you are doing again.”

“Right, that’s a good idea.  How do we recruit people?” Mace asks, looking around the room for ideas.

“I actually have a point to make, this is no longer an, for want of a better term, alliance within our Order anymore.  This is an official endeavour and as such, decisions such as these should be made within the High Council.  Or, you open those doors and you have everyone involved.  Anything different now is favouritism,” Terza tells them, no one was expecting that, the Council as a whole reared back in shock, except Obi-Wan.  The rest of the rooms occupants don’t seem surprised, more surprised it was not mentioned until now.

“Fuck the High Council,” Obi tells them, “You wanted change, make it happen.  You have the numbers to start this new council of yours even if you cannot yet complete it.  So do it, and make decisions the way you hope to in the future.”

“We did agree no more holding back,” Xan says, wheeling back and forth slightly.  He’d been getting very antsy since he could not get up and move around, Dooku next to him put out a hand and stopped the wheelchair, Xan looks sheepish as he realises what he had been doing.

“They’re right Masters, you need to do this for yourselves.  Perhaps there is much you can learn from this though.  You have to do this for the Order to see that the Council is still in control, but you’ve just included the Order in more of this Order than has happened in many, many generations.  It may not be the best idea to cut them out again,” Aayla tells them a tad shyly.  Everyone apart from the Council stood up and left, bad choice of words since Xan also left…The Council just looked around floundering for a few moments before Mace voiced what they were all thinking.

“Well that was unexpected.”


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“A year ago, I was viciously attacked, Arl Aa saved my life and in doing so damaged herself.  We had no idea what would happen and sat by her bedside often, wishing she would wake up.  We followed her dream, began building an order she would be proud to wake up to.  She was our hope and our drive for the longest time, but in her absence, we learnt to do it ourselves, to be all we could and needed to be.  Without her we would not be here, without her we have an all too good idea of what would happen.  Today we say goodbye, not just to our friend and family member, but also to a hero.  Her sacrifice saved my life, but it also saved all of you, and so many others in the galaxy, she will not be forgotten.  Her memory will live on in the very foundation of this order as long as it exists.  Goodbye, Arleia Skywalker, beloved sister, friend, daughter, Padawan, and mentor to all. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, may the force be with you as you now become one with it.”

 

Six months earlier…

“How’s the new council planning going?” Karrya asks curiously over group dinner at Mace and Mic’s place.

It was two months after information week, two months after half the group walked out (sorry Xan) and left it to the council to control their order.  This was the first dinner since then, Mace and Mic having been far too busy.

“We only have one person to get confirmation from, then we have our new council as full as it can be until Sith and Custos numbers rise.” Mace answers.

“Unfortunately, that last one is a cranky old bastard that I think wants to see us beg and weep in desperation.  What more proof do you want man?!” Mic tells them dramatically dropping the top half of his body on the table towards Dooku.

“I only wanted to be sure this would work, I had the proof I wanted after Xan’s speech that day in Arlie’s room.” He replies, every council member looks at him in barely disguised anger.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”  Mace asks loudly.

“Moo Moo!” Anakin admonishes him, he winces.

“Sorry Ani.”

“So, you’re in?” Adi asks, Dooku nods.

“Yes, I’ll be on your blasted council.” He relents, Adi honest to god giggles and claps as Depa pulls out her comm and notifies the others before returning to her food.

“Sorry I’m late!” Owen calls running in, “Temporal Mechanics ran over time on account of me breaking the teaching Master.”

“Again?” Anakin asks, Owen smiles.

“It is hardly my fault he’s wrong all the time.  He said something about paradoxes not being able to form because time won’t allow it.  I told him that was rubbish, we are living in one now and time doesn’t exist.”

“How’d that go down?” Qui-Gon asks curiously and amused.

“Well he wants to speak to Master Penn about me being too immature to be in his class.”

“Didn’t he already try that?”

“Yes, Master Penn told me not to worry about it when I comm’d her on the way here.”

“Make sure you tell your parents when you speak to them next.” Mace tells the boy who smiles and nods, he enjoyed his classes and being around people of his intelligence level.  He was only eleven but taking the advance classes offered to senior Padawans.  Some Masters and Knights have asked him to be their Padawan but he’s turned them all down, when asked why all he would say was that it was not yet time.  He was waiting for something, he did not know what but when it was time, he’d know, and that is when he will say yes.

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you think for yourself.” Xanatos mutters, at first people were about to scold him for being an ass but they realised upon looking at him that he was not speaking of Owen.

“What are you talking about Xanny?” Reeft asks, he, Aayla and Clee had joined the group dinners, now affectionately called family dinners, soon after information week, the secrets putting a strain on their relationships with people finally out of the way.  Unfortunately for Xanatos, that meant he’d picked up a nickname, kriffing Clee.

“Arl goes into a coma and within six months we make more progress than we have in five years.  Everything that has happened has been necessary, it’s not as though we wasted time, but maybe things would have happened quicker if we had thought for ourselves, helped push things along instead of relying on Arlie to pull us after her.  She’d be so proud of us.”

“So would Shaak.” Depa tells them with a watery smile, “Look at us, five years ago this never would have happened, Moo Moo and I weren’t close because attachments, these gatherings would have just been weird and half the people in this room probably would either not get along or not have met.  We owe her so much that we relied on her too much, now we stand on our own, but we stand together.  Not without her, she’s always with us.  She is not the only one proud of us, I am too.”

“To Arlie, and to us.” Bellan tells them, everyone clinks glasses and smiles.

 

A month later the new council is in the council chambers debating, so far, this council was composed of Yoda, Mace, Plo, Dooku, Micah, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Tahl, Quinlan, and Junahl.  There were currently no Custos around to be on the council, but it was hoped that between Micah, Quinlan, and Tahl, their knowledge of Arl and of history would allow them to bring the viewpoint as well as their own to the table.  Obi-Wan had agreed to be on for the Sith, since he would be training those that follow that path, as long as _he_ sat on the council, not Sohn.  Everyone readily agreed to that.  Representing the Jedi, they had Yoda, Mace, and Plo.  Representing the Sith was Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan.  Standing in for the Custos was Tahl, Quinlan, and Micah.  Of course for the Shadows there was Junahl, though she had recruited Quinlan as a Shadow and was planning on doing the same with Tachi when she was Knighted next week.  Garen and Xanatos had been paired together after Garen was elevated to Lord and given the name ‘Lord Schlau’.

‘It means wise, cunning, sly, and intelligent.’ Qui-Gon had told him, Garen had smiled so wide his cheeks hurt for days afterwards.

“You cannot take more than one Padawan.” Mace tells Obi-Wan who looks at him, dead in the eyes and smirks.

“Why not?” He asks still smirking, Mace flounders…little shit.

“Ugh, fine.  That’s unanimous, you can take them both assuming they agree.  He doesn’t seem that interested at the moment.”

“Brilliant, last on the agenda is the training salles.  Concerns have been raised that when the new Sith are at the point of practicing the more volatile abilities with the force that others may be hit.  We think perhaps naming the same training salle already shielded as a Sith salle.  It’s a segregation we didn’t want but it’s a safety thing not a hate thing.” Tahl tells them, everyone looks unsure.

“It sets a bad precedent but the concern is a legitimate one.” Plo says voicing his concerns.

“Could we maybe say when practicing things such as force lightning, they use that but in normal…” Aayla begins to say, translating for Quinlan.  That was one brilliant thing about Council Padawans sitting in on meetings, he didn’t have to rely on the bond with Dooku.

“That could work but keep in mind it is relatively easy for most to use these more aggressive techniques, the trouble is controlling them.  Anarch for instance, when he was learning to throw force lightning I made sure we were on an extended mission because like most do, he couldn’t _not_ throw it when angry or upset after the door to it had been opened.” Dooku tells them interrupting Aayla and glancing apologetically at both her and her Master even as he signs his words to Quin since he knew how to.

“How do we lower the risk to the temple’s general population?” Mic asks, a few ideas are thrown around, all shut down before eventually silence falls.

“We’ve been here for two hours now, it’s late, we’re all tired.  Let’s reconvene next week and present new ideas then and decide with fresh eyes?” Qui-Gon suggests, Quinlan sighs.

“This is exactly what we were hoping to avoid in this new council but I suppose I understand the rut the old council fell into.  No offense surviving members.” Aayla translates.

“What would you suggest instead?” Qui-Gon asks sounding frustrated, he didn’t like it either.

“In three days we have the ceremony for Obi-Wan and his two Padawans, after that we revisit this issue and have a full plan in place by the end of the week.”

“Agreed.” Junahl says, everyone nods and so the meeting is adjourned.  Mace heads down to the healers wing closely followed by Micah.

“She wouldn’t mind you know.”

“I know Mic I just, she should be here for this, making jokes about being replaced.”

“We were talking about this long before she went into a coma.” Mic reminds his lover who reaches out and strokes Arlie’s hair as he nods and grabs her hand.  Mic comes up and puts his hand on top of both, wrapping his other arm around Mace’s waist.

“So, let’s go help our official new Padawan move into our quarters.” Mace says with a smile, “Goodnight Arlie.” He tells the unconscious girl before kissing her on the forehead, squeezing her hand and leaving the room with Mic who smiles at the girl on his way out.

 

Two hours later, Mace, Micah and their new Padawan stand in the Padawan room in their quarters, everything now put away.

“Welcome home Asajj.” Mace says with a hand on the girl’s shoulder, the Dathomirian smiles widely up at the two of them.

“Thank you, Masters.”

 

“Giiett.” Micah says grouchily answering the comm that was beeping incessantly on the nightstand.

“Good morning Master Giiett, that is so strange, I could have sworn I dialled Mace’s comm.” Terza’s voice comes through far too amused, Mic glares at the comm.

“Is there a particular reason you are calling _anyone_ at third hour?”

“Yes, actually, the both of you need to come down here.” She says all traces of amusement gone from her voice, Mic frowns.

“Is Arlie okay?” He asks even as he shoves his mate beside him to wake him up.

“Hmmph.” The man groans as he looks over accusingly before sitting up alert when he notices the expression on his lover’s face.

“I, she’s alive.  But you should bring Shmi in as well.” Terza tells him solemnly.

“We’ll be there soon.” He promises before shutting off the comm and taking a deep breathe.

“Love?” Mace asks, he sighs sounding very distressed.

“Terza wants to speak to us about Arlie, has requested we bring Shmi in as well.  She says that Arlie is alive but didn’t elaborate.”

“I’ll call Shmi and wait for her at the entrance, you get Little Obi?” Mace says after some hesitation, Mic nods. “Oh, I believe he’s in Xan’s room.” Mic raises an eyebrow, Mace just shrugs.

“Right, I’ll let Asajj know on my way out.” He tells him as they both throw clothes on and leave their room.  Asajj had been their Padawan for a little under a month now and was immediately concerned for the girl she had met during creche visits and knew so much about from her Master’s and their friends, however agreed to remain in their quarters for now.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Obi-Wan, Shmi, Mace, and Micah are sitting in Terza’s office waiting to hear news about one of the most important people to them.

“Do you remember when her seizures stopped?” Terza asks diving straight into it, they nod unsurely.

“You said that it could be good news or it could be a sign that her brain is shutting down.” Micah says, his voice full of trepidation as he grabs his lover’s hand.

“I was looking over her latest brain scan today, I am sorry.  We have done all we can but her brain is shutting down, her body going with it.  She’s been put on life support, there is still a chance she could bounce back from this but, there is nothing I can do.  I still do not know what the problem is so, if she’s going to come back from this, she’s going to have to do it on her own.” Shmi gasps, pressing a hand to her mouth and shutting her eyes as tears start falling down her face.

“Mum.” Obi-Wan whispers, moving to wrap his arms around the woman who sobs into his shoulder.  Mace gets up and walks out without a word, Mic watches him go but doesn’t stop him.

“He’s only gone to Arl’s room.” Mic reassures Terza who looks at him with worry, she nods and smiles slightly.

“I, I really wish there was more I could do.  I’m sorry.” She tells him again, Mic smiles reassuringly.

“Did you ever find out the name she gave you?” Mic asks, Terza looks confused at the abrupt question but shakes her head, “Terri.  Or if she’s annoyed it becomes Terzi.”

“That’s terrible.” She says as tears fill her eyes.

“She cares for you as you do for her.  You have done all you can Terza, you have nothing to apologise for.” He tells her even as he struggles to maintain his own composure.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my Padawan is no doubt waiting up at home for us to return.” He bows before leaving.

 

 

Mace leaves the room, throwing a thought over his shoulder to his life-mate, letting him know he is not going far, he gets a brief acknowledgement and his mate’s intention of returning home before he focuses on the room he’s just walked into.  There in the bed is his Padawan, looking so young yet he long ago learnt to look past it.  Most look weak or vulnerable when unconscious, but not his Padawan.  No, she was just as strong now as she had always been, she would wake up, she had to.

“We are so close Arlie, we’ve nearly done it.  You can’t miss it, you can’t leave.  Please come back.  We all need you to be proud of us, to reassure us we’ve done everything right.  I need you to be here to see it happen.  I need you to be here to-to, I just need you to be here Arl.  Please wake up.” He begs her as he starts sobbing, running a hand through her hair.  He doesn’t head back to his quarters that night.

 

 

“Now that we have the program relatively set up, you two have a choice to make.  I am in the unique position of being able to train you as either Sith or Jedi.  It’s up to you, each of you.” Obi tells his Padawans one day over breakfast.  Owen and Anakin look to each other with questioning looks, the two had accidentally created a pairbond through their explorations of the force and silently spoke to each other frequently enough that he learnt to just sit back and wait for them to finish.

“Well yes, that makes sense but then which is which?” Owen says aloud, they had a habit of this too.  Randomly switching between mindspeech and verbal speech.

“Well, I tend to be more emotional and take that into account when making decisions.  Whereas you are more cool logic and emotional detachment.”  Anakin replies, Owen nods thinking it over in exactly the way the other boy had just described.  Obi-Wan smiles, amused at the exchange.

“Which would suggest you would be better suited to the Sith code and I to the Jedi.”

“Exactly.”

“If you are both happy with that.” He says looking between the two both of whom nod enthusiastically.  “You know if things continue how it is, you may need to pick up a third member of a team eventually.  A Custos, who we will not be adopting Anakin, I know that look.” Obi tells him sternly.

“But Obi!  Err, Master.” Ani hastily corrects without needing to be reminded.

“We should keep an eye out for a good match then.  We won’t need to worry about it for years but it would be nice if we had years to build a good rapport instead of jumping straight in like Quin, Tyranus, and Arl did.” Owen tells his brother who acquiesces with a nod.

“Master, what’s going on with you and Xanny?”  Mastery of the Jedi ways be damned, Obi blushes at that question to the roots of his fucking hair.

“I, uh, nothing.  Why?” Both boys raise an eyebrow in identical ways simultaneously.  “Sometimes I seriously question how there is no blood relation between you two.”

“Master, I am nearly twelve years old, Anakin is nine soon.  So yes, we are still children, but we are not blind.” Obi rolls his eyes, “Come on Little Obi, if not as your Padawans then as your brothers?”

“Fine!” he says with a huff, “I don’t know.  I really do not know.  I said about six months ago that we’d talk about it and we still haven’t.”

“Yet you’re spending nights there?” Owen asks non-judgementally.  Obi-Wan was often surprised by his little brother, he was an absolute genius, no doubt about that.  But it was the maturity that he often forgot came with that that took him by surprise.

“Yes.”

“What about Qui…err…Anarch.” Anakin asks, Obi sighs deeply.

“I do not know.  I have not spoken with him about any of this either.”

“I gotta say Obi, I kind of worry that the only people you seem to talk to about these things are your kid brothers.”

“I didn’t even want to talk to you guys!” He says to Ani who glares.

“Well that’s just mean.”

“Are you cheating on Qui-Gon?” Owen asks flatly, Obi flinches but otherwise doesn’t respond.

“Mum is not going to be impressed with that.” Ani tells him before looking like something just occurred to him, “Actually upon reflection, Dad may have a worse reaction.”

“Neither will be happy.” Owen amends, Ani nods.

“Which is why neither of you two are going to tell either of them, or _anyone_ , got it?”

“Obi-Wan, everyone knows.  This is the first time you’ve admitted it, but everyone knows.  Only reason no one does anything about the abhorrent behaviour is because of how obvious it is that Qui knows too!”

“Well then Owen, what is your problem?”

“Just because he knows does not mean he’s happy with it.” Obi glares at his brother.

“He isn’t a saint either!  God knows what he and Clee get up to.”

“Obi-Wan, she thinks of him as a brother.” Anakin tells him, he sighs.

“I am aware of that Anakin, my worry is not how she thinks of him, it’s how he thinks of her.  He knows he’s a brother to her and knows nothing will happen.  But he told me years ago he once had feelings for her and to me, it doesn’t seem like that’s changed much.”

“And this is where we back off.  Can we go see Arl before class?” Owen requests, Obi absently nods before remembering.

“Actually, come sit on the couch.  I need to talk to you both about Arlie.” He says having gotten permission from their parents to tell the boys.

“What?” Owen asks grabbing Anakin’s hand as they sit.

“Arl has been put on life support.  She, um. Her brain is failing, Terza says there is still a chance she could bounce back from this though.”

“We know.” Anakin tells him, Obi raises an eyebrow. “I’ve known what was going to happen for a few months now.”

“Jerk tried to hide it too.” Owen mutters making Ani elbow him.

“Anakin, you should have told us all.” Obi says angrily, Anakin glares up at him defiantly.

“You people wanted hope.  No one wanted to be told that she isn’t going to wake up!” Obi rears back like he’d been struck.  “I didn’t want to cause that pain.” He adds in a whisper.

“Ani, she will, of course she will.”

“No Little Obi, she won’t.”

 

 

Later that day Obi-Wan calls the old group to the meeting room, something that had not happened in a few months.

“Thought we agreed this wouldn’t happen anymore?” Aayla translates for Quin though most in the room could speak sign now.

“This is only partially about the order.” Obi tells him, their numbers had grown again thanks to several people bringing on Padawans.  Some were standing now since there was not enough room at the table.  There was now Depa, Adi, Siri, Tholme, Quinlan, Aayla, Dooku, Qui-Gon, Obi, Anakin, Owen, Mace, Micah, Asajj, Ki-Adi, Eeth, Saesee, Yoda, Plo, Garen, Terza, Tahl, Bellan, Bant, Xanatos, Clee, Junahl, Jey-Sahl, Reeft, and Valorum.

“Go on.” The Chancellor tells him, he looks at him oddly for a moment.

“Crap, oh no, no no.  Dammit Arlie no, no I can’t.” He says suddenly earning himself worried looks as he tries not to hyperventilate. “Ani, you’re still 8 right?”

“Yes.”

“Thank fuck.  That gives me, damn, a year.  A literal year, nearly to the date.  Oh, fuck me and everything and just.  I’m gonna kill that fucking bastard, I needed Arl for this.”

“I don’t know what’s going on but Obi, a year is a long time, she could wake up.” Mic tells his friend, who looks heartbroken for all of a second.

“Actually, that’s why we are here.” Everyone looks confused, Anakin silently requests for Obi-Wan to let him say it, he nods.

“Arlie isn’t going to wake up.  I’ve known this for months.  Her brain failing has only proven me right.”

“Ani said it would happen soon last week.” Owen adds quietly though everyone heard him.  Immediately everyone tried to dispute it, Anakin, Owen, and Obi-Wan waited patiently knowing they would stop soon.  It was hard to protest when the force rang with the truth of the statement.

“We need to make the Custos on our own how we believe it is needed.  We need to appoint people in this room to be in charge of it and we need to get this moving.”

“Sometimes I forget you went through a war, other times it’s all too clear.”  Bant tells him teary.

“Was I being flippant again?” Obi asks Bellan seriously who nods, he cringes. “Sorry.”

“He isn’t wrong though.” Junahl tells them, “She is important to all of us, this group more than most, but we cannot put the needs of this order on hold for something that I think, on some level, we all saw coming.”  Everyone is quiet for a few minutes, processing before knowing she is right and getting to work.

“So, first thing I suppose is, does anyone want the job?” Mace asks looking around the room.

“I would like to. I’ve been working in that perspective for the council and I guess it’s become rather hard for me to fit my views in with the Jedi lately.” Micah says surprising everyone.

“Honestly, I think it would suit you anyway.” Dooku adds, “Your way of looking at things is very similar to how the people we stayed with did, namely Master Halvi 13’000 years ago.”

“I will too.” Tahl says, “I’ve been thinking of making the transition since Arlie and Ty first put forth their idea for the order.”

“My Master says he will too, he much preferred how they did things and having experienced it firsthand it gives them a good foundation to build their own sect of the order on.” Aayla tells them.

“We already have a code too.” Tahl says with a smile.

“You do?” Reeft asks, no one from the old group look surprised but the newbies do.

“Have hope for the future.” Micah says.

“Have faith in yourself.” Tahl adds.

“Have trust in the force.” Quin says aloud, speaking for the first time in a while so his voice was a bit rough.  His and Dooku’s eyes are moisture filled but with happiness and pride.

“Thank you.” Dooku tells them, Mic and Tahl smile and nod.

“From there and from what we know, I already have a few ideas.” Mic tells them.

“As do I.”

“And I.”  Aayla says, “Or, Master does.” She adds noticing many had not seen Quin signing.

“All right then, you three take some time, draw up a plan.  Outline everything you can think of now but no one is going to expect a full order set up like the Jedi and the Sith seeing as we are about 13’000 years ahead of you.” Mace tells them after the rest council nods to each other.

“In that case, Vos, how would you like to be on the council both for the Custos as a whole and one of the Shadow representatives?” Bordo asks, he smiles and nods, she honestly looks relieved. “Now if only I had a Sith shadow to appoint.” She complains.

“You do.” Adi tells her in confusion, Junahl raises an eyebrow just as confused.  Dooku snickers.

[What did you do?] Quin signs to Dooku.

[I may have been training Siri in the ways of the Sith for a month.] Quin laughs. He had taken to spelling out the short names Arl or others had given to everyone so that he did not have to say or translate through others.  Those who spoke Sign now did the same.

[Junie is not going to be happy with Siri for not telling her.  I thought Siri was going Custos?]

[She meditated on it and, after both Qui and Schlau came to me about her needling them about Sith, I approached her.  She, Adi, and I sat down and had a long conversation before I began teaching her.  It’s a more informal training than Garen received but that’s what we plan to do when we have more numbers so we thought this was a good place to start.]  Neither had noticed that Aayla was translating the conversation for everyone else when she noticed Dooku explaining everything.

“Well, when you’re trained we’ll talk.” Junahl tells Siri startling the other two out of their conversation.

“That was mean Master.” Siri says pouting at Adi who grins.

“I told you years ago Siri, your time on the council would come and I will sit back and laugh.”

“All this time we thought you were the only one among us who managed to train their Padawan the way a Jedi should.” Depa tells her looking highly amused.

“I thought you all knew me better than that.” She says feigning offense.

“Well, Chancellor, at least you know you are not having a stroke.” Anakin tells the man who laughs.  It takes a moment for the others to catch on, then the room was filled with laughter.  Or confusion from Owen, Clee, Aayla and Reeft who had not been present for the comment and unlike Anakin, had not been told of it. “He once said that the day they behave professionally and don’t digress from topic he’ll know he’s having a stroke.”  The four chuckle now getting the joke.

“Xanny?” Clee asks seeing the look on his face.

“Sorry, yes?” He asks paying attention again and stopping the absent-minded chair rocking he’d been doing.

“Are you alright Padawan?” Qui-Gon asks, he had not referred to Xan as such in years.

“Yes Master I just, it’s been five years, nearly six, since I found Arlie in that force damned room.  It seems like such a long time in some regards and such a short one in others.  Either way, far too soon for us to lose her.  Are you sure she won’t wake up?” He asks Anakin who nods sadly as tears fill his eyes again, and Xan’s, and a lot of other people’s.

“She is fifty-four years old tomorrow, let’s at least take solace in the fact that she is not really twelve nearly thirteen and has lived.” Adi tells them, Obi fights to compose himself as he feels the Sith in him rising.  He works to incorporate the feelings into himself and knows his eyes will be yellow when he opens them, but it is not Sohn in control.

(Or perhaps it is, we are one after all.) Obi thinks to himself with a sad smile.

“Not a life anyone would want to live though.” Garen says, Obi smiles.

“Not a life anyone would want?  She learnt force-magic, was adopted by a fantastic family on a world we can only imagine.  Lived for ten years on a planet she knew nothing of and gained so much.  She had a little brother over there, and an older one.  Then she came back here and met all of us, she healed.  She trained to be a Jedi and became a Knight at twenty-three, only six years after she began training, she really may as well have been thirteen for that particular marker.  Has a rather amazing partnership with her best friend, picks up an amazing girlfriend.  Is on the council at twenty, or really thirty, successfully runs a war effort, gains a Padawan, a sister-in-law even if they did not get along.  An adorable niece and nephew.  That’s just an overview, there is so much good in between that, the good times she had back then, with everyone.  Every life has its dark points, they are the things that affect her the most from that yes, but it is not all that happened.  She went through hell, but she also had a great life, and she would be the first to tell you so.”  He tells them, most everyone was teary by the end, but all found a level of peace in the speech.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Mace stands in the doorway of a training salle booked out for training of the adults who had joined the order and were being trained in the basics of the force by Yoda, Qui-Gon, and Tahl.  Micah would have done it but he did have a Padawan to think of.  Tahl, Micah, and Quin had begun planning the Custos three months ago, they had taken his words about being 13’000 years ahead as a personal challenge.  Yesterday they had presented their new third of the order to the council.  It was not so much a ‘here is our idea outline’ as a ‘here is our completed code, training practices, required coursework, and general rules’ a long with a lot of smugness emanating from the three of them when Mace congratulated them on their efforts.  With that, the final sect of the order was set up, they had quietly recruited new people into the order along with the cross-training many Padawans were requesting for the other two sects.  If things continued this way, in one week they would go public with their new ‘Order of The Force’, it’s new vision and its role within the Republic.

“Master?” Asajj asks coming to stand with her Master who looks down and smiles at her.

“Hello Padawan.  Have you decided which you wish to join?” He asks nodding into the room, she smiles.

“I decided a month after information week when I buried myself into any material I could get my hands on.  The Jedi themselves are changing along with the order, that’s what I want to be.  I want to help shape the new Jedi from within instead of without.” She tells her Master who wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into his side.

“You remind me a lot of your sister-padawan sometimes.  But you, you are so vastly different too.  I am so very glad and lucky to have you as my Padawan, even if it is joint custody.” Mace says, she laughs and leans into him.

“Thank you Master.” She says not bothering to ask which sister-padawan, she knew.  It had been ten months since Arlie had gone into a coma, the feeling of the entire order mourning was lessening with each passing day though she was never far from people’s minds.  Asajj thinks all those exceptionally close to her were very glad that she would never be forgotten.  None knew yet, but Asajj had begun collecting evidence and holos, records, and vids of everything Arlie had done.  She’s putting it all together into a biography with the help of Jocasta Nu, she’d even added in everything from the other timeline.  She suspected Obi-Wan knew what she was up to, she had not been subtle and there was only so long he would believe her explanation of being curious about her sister-padawan.  Asajj seriously questioned how much of this biography would be believed a hundred years from now but, that was their problem.  She was merely collecting information to make sure things would be historically accurate.  She was nearly done too, on the cover of it, she had a birthdate and age.  All that was left was something Asajj really did not want to add and hoped she would not have to, yet a part of her knew she would soon, a death date. Asajj’s main goal was quite depressing, but she wanted her work to be complete before Arlie died.  She wanted to read it to Arlie, her tribute to the girl, so that when she passed, she’d know she was appreciated and would always be remembered.  She hoped Arl would pass peacefully in the force knowing they would all be okay, the order would be, and she had done her very best to get them there.

“You are doing it again Padawan.” Her Master tells her, she looks at him quizzically.

“Anytime you think about your mysterious project that you won’t share with us until it’s done, your nose scrunches adorably.”

“I am not adorable Master!”

“When you are older, I am going to show you a picture of you from now and you will eat your words.”

“When I am older and you show me this picture, I will think ‘Yes, there is a very grown up completely unadorable ten-year-old.’” She tells him, he chuckles.

 

One month later Asajj sits down by the bedside of her sister-padawan and role model.

“Hi Arlie, I hope you don’t mind me coming down here, I know I say that every time but since you can’t tell me if you do I figure it’s only polite.  Anyway, I have something I want to share with you.  See, all your visits to the creche, the stories you would tell, I used to research them.  Look into what you said because I wanted to know about you, I looked up to you so much.  I still do actually, and I want you to understand why, why I do and why the order as a whole does.” She tells the girl as she brings out the small black square from her pocket.  “It was originally going to be in a datapad but it was too big, Master Nu and I felt this was more appropriate anyway.” She tells her, “It’s not quite the same I think, than you making it yourself but, this is the holocron of Master Arl Aa.  Born 23/11 3245 LY, aged Forty-Four.  Master Nu says that age will adjust automatically as the years pass.” Asajj says before doing as Jocasta taught her to open the holocron and going through it all with the unconscious girl before her.

When she was done, Asajj felt something in the force, as though something had clicked into place.  Shutting off the holocron she takes her sister-padawan’s hand.

 ** _“_** ** _Arl?_** ** _”_** She broadcasts in mindspeech.  She had been told repeatedly that thought transmission was a particular talent of hers, she didn’t think the people saying it meant it as the compliment she had taken it as, but she decided that was their problem and she would be proud as she nurtured the talent.

She got no response but felt something in the force begin to ebb away, panicked she called for the closest healer which happened to be Bellan.

“Healer Bellan, she’s, I don’t, something is happening.” Asajj says frantically, Bellan comes over and reads over the equipment before searching her friend’s presence in the force and gasps.

“Oh no.” She whispers as she opens her eyes.

“It’s happening isn’t it? We’re losing her.” Bellan wipes a tear from her eye as she pulls out her comm.

“Master, you need to get to Arlie’s room immediately.”

“Can-Can I stay here?  I just want to know what’s happening?” Bellan’s eyes soften as she looks at the child.

“You’ll have to leave the room when Healer Terza gets here but if you want you can wait in my office and I’ll come fill you in afterwards?” Bellan offers as she double checks everything she can think of on Arlie.  Asajj nods, looks at Arlie and closes her eyes losing herself in the girl’s force signature.  It seemed peaceful in a way she had never seen, as though some battle she’d been fighting was over and she could rest…oh.

“Wait, let them say goodbye.” She says grabbing Arl’s hand desperately, both she and Bellan immediately feel her presence in the force strengthen minutely before beginning to fade again though at a slower rate.  It was also dimmer than it had ever been, but still there.  “Thank you.” She whispers, “For everything.  Goodbye Arlie.” She tells the girl acting on instinct and kissing the hand she was holding before letting go just as Terza enters the room.  She bows and leaves the room, walking to and sitting in Bellan’s office where she enters a light meditation trance as she waits.

 

Twenty minutes later Bellan enters with Terza, soon followed by her Masters and Arlie’s parents.

“Padawan?” Master Giiett asks surprised.

“Hi Master Miccy.” She replies solemnly as the four take their seats, Asajj giving hers to her other Master who invites her to sit on his lap.

“I want to start this by saying that if it were not for the actions of this Padawan, this conversation would be going _very_ differently.” Terza says gesturing to Asajj, “I don’t know what you did, but thank you.” Asajj gives a small smile as Mace squeezes her briefly.

“What’s happening Terri?” Mic asks the healer before him who nods to Bellan.

“Arl’s force presence is fading, fairly slowly now but due to how rapidly it began we still do not have much time left before…before we lose her.” Bellan tells them, there were far less tears than the last time they had news of any kind, everyone seemed to have accepted that Arl would not be waking up though everyone was still devastated by the news and tears would no doubt come later.

“You said it slowed down?” Mace asks voice thick with emotion even as he tried to release it into the force.

“As I said, it was rapid at first, she’d likely be gone by now if Asajj hadn’t stepped in.”

“Padawan?” Mace asks, she looks sheepishly at her feet.

“I felt her going but you guys weren’t there and-and, I wanted you to be able to say goodbye.” She answers, tears falling from her eyes.

“What did you do?” Mic asks gently, reassuring her that no one was upset with her.

“I just asked her to wait.”

“You asked her?” Terza asks since Bellan had not explained what had happened.

“Why don’t you tell us all of what happened instead of pieces of it?” The younger healer suggests, Asajj nods.

“I was showing her something, and then I felt something change so I called out to her in my mind.”

“What do you mean change?” Terza asks, Asajj scrunches her face in thought.

“It was like something fit better, had clicked into place.” No one seemed reassured by the words, “She didn’t respond to me but that’s when I felt her start fading so I called for Healer Bellan.  A minute or two later I was focusing on her force presence and it felt, peaceful.  I thought it was like a fight was finally over and she was letting herself rest which is when I panicked and grabbed her hand and begged her to wait.”

“Thank you.” Shmi tells the girl heartfeltly. “If there is nothing else, I would like to go see my daughter.” Terza nods, Shmi and Cliegg leave the room.

“We’ll go too, would you like to join us Padawan?” Mic asks, Asajj thinks for a moment before shaking her head.

“I have something I need to do.” Mace raises her eyebrows at her but doesn’t respond beyond a nod, she bows to all four beings before leaving the room and heading straight to the library.

“Master Nu, it’s time.” She tells the Master as she blinks away tears, Jocasta holds the book she was reading against her chest sadly, Asajj wasn’t sure if the reaction was weirder or if it was the fact that she had an actual paper book.  Asajj wondered where she got it but didn’t ask, it seemed rather personal and now was not the time.

“Well then, we’d best get Master Yoda so that we can do this properly.” She says taking the young girl by the hand and leading her out of the archives.

 

That night Mace and Mic hosted another family dinner, instead of moving the furniture to the balcony to fit in the second table, they had everyone sitting in the living area on the floor/couch/bookcase(The fuck Asajj?)/armchair.

“We have some bad news.” Mace says, Shmi, Cliegg, and Mic had all said he should be the one to tell everyone, Shmi couldn’t bear to, Cliegg wanted to support his girlfriend, and Mic just felt that Mace should do it.

“What is it?” Adi asks concerned, made worse by the fact that Shmi was crying as Cliegg rubbed circles into her back soothingly.

“Arlie’s force presence is fading, we do not have much time left before she is…gone.” He says as calmly as he could manage, not all that calm but fuck training.  He was thinking that too often lately, more meditation was definitely required even if such behaviour was excusable in these circumstances.

“Dear gods.” Depa says as a tear slide down her face.

“No!” Garen pleads, his grief palpable in the force.  Xan reaches out and takes his hand, that was all it took for Garen to kneel next to Xan’s wheelchair and sob into the other man’s shoulder.

“Anyone who wants to say goodbye should do so soon.” Mic tells them when he sees Mace can’t.

 

 

One month later Mace sat down beside his Padawan with Mic, Garen, Xanatos, Qui-Gon, Dooku, Quinlan, Shmi, Cliegg, and all three of Arl’s brothers surrounding both he and the bed.

“It’s alright Arlie, you can let go now.  The battle is over Padawan, and we won.”

 

“A year ago I was viciously attacked, Arl Aa saved my life and in doing so damaged herself.  We had no idea what would happen and sat by her bedside often, wishing she would wake up.  We followed her dream, began building an order she would be proud to wake up to.  She was our hope and our drive for the longest time, but in her absence we learnt to do it ourselves, to be all we could and needed to be.  Without her we would not be here, without her we have an all too good idea of what would happen.  Today we say goodbye, not just to our friend and family member, but also to a hero.  Her sacrifice saved my life, but it also saved all of you and so many others in the galaxy, and she will not be forgotten.  Her memory will live on in the very foundation of this order as long as it exists.  Goodbye, Arleia Skywalker, beloved Sister, friend, daughter, padawan and mentor to all. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, may the force be with you as you now become one with it.” Xanatos says, speaking before the entire temple as well as the whole Republic.  Given how much credit had been given to her since the Order of the Force became a new officially recognised and Senate sanctioned initiative, it was believed to be appropriate.  Her friends and family had already said their goodbyes in private, none felt the need to keep the pyre the same way.

“Something to show you a young Padawan has.” Yoda says getting everyone’s attention and confusing the fuck out of them all as the flames of Arl’s prior roar.  Asajj took a deep breath, she would. Not. Stutter.  Or panic.  Or screw this up in anyway.

“From the vault in the Temple Archives, I present the holocron of Arl Aa. Put together, in her absence, by me, Padawan Asajj Ventress, in the hopes that none of what this extraordinary Custos Master achieved would be forgotten.  And that her teachings may live on through all of us, and all future generations that seek the holocron’s wisdom.” She introduces as she opens it for all to see.

“Oh…wow.” Depa says as awe-filled eyes take in what was before her.  The holocron began with a hologram of Arl that Jocasta and Asajj had programmed that, in Mic’s opinion, was eerily accurate to how she would respond to things.  Asajj interacted with the hologram and brought up the biography she had made.  It began with holos of Arl on Tatooine with her mother, then with baby Anakin as well.  There was a voice-over from the Arl hologram documenting things as it went, all the way through Earth, the other timeline and this one.

“It was at this moment that I committed my last heroic act by holding on for one last month to give those who needed it a chance to say goodbye.  You may access my full teachings through the main menu, but for now, may the force be with you.” The hologram says before Asajj shut it down and closed the hologram.  Mic smiles as he takes his mate's hand and whispers so that only Mace can hear him.

“May you always be with us too.”


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Obi-Wan Kenobi storms into the council chamber closely followed by his current partner Qui-Gon and his two Padawans, Mace raises an eyebrow at his entrance.

“Something the matter Little Obi?” He asks his nephew who takes a calming breath when Qui puts a hand on his shoulder.

“We ran into Darth Maul on Tatooine.” Dooku tries to get eye contact with his partner but Quin resolutely looks at Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan who is speaking in sign as well for Quinlan.

“What the devil were you doing on Tatooine?  You were meant to be on Naboo.” Mace tells them, Obi-Wan takes another calming breath in an attempt to re-centre himself.

“Yes, I realise that Uncle, but as per usual, the mission did not go as planned.  Only now do I remember this happened in the other timeline as well.  How I forgot I’ve no idea, more troubling is my inability to remember what comes next, only that it is not good.”

“How could you possibly not remember?” Xanatos asks.  It has been three months since Arl’s pyre, in that time Xanatos not only became a Custos but also joined the Shadow ranks.  While it was true that he would not be able to hunt down any rogue force-users, he had been put in charge of teaching the Shadows heavy mental shielding to prevent any dark users from controlling their minds.  Wrath had tried to take control of Xan’s mind three times since Arl’s death and failed each time.  Xan was now the Custos Shadow on the council, Quinlan had tried very hard to be what he felt he had to, but in the end realised he was not doing it for him but for Arlie.  As such he re-joined the Jedi ranks and took Junahl’s place as Jedi Shadow.  She now watches over everyone from a neutral stand point well away from the council itself.  Tholme had joined the Custos ranks as well as the council, though not without much badgering on the latter.  As it stood for the Jedi, there was Yoda, Mace, and Plo.  For the Sith there was Tyranus, Anarch, and Schlau.  Obi-Wan gladly giving up his position to a true Sith when it was decided Garen was ready, though Obi still taught the Sith training classes.  For Custos there was Tholme, Micah, and Tahl.  For Shadows there was Quinlan as the Jedi representative, Xanatos as the Custos, and Siri Tachi as the Sith.  The council of the Order Of The Force was finally, truly complete.

“I do not know Xanny, if I did I would not have said ‘How I forgot I’ve no idea’.”

“Okay, I’m just going to go ahead and step in here.” Qui says stepping up beside Obi-Wan who then pulls back slightly to join his Padawans.  “Negotiations with the trade federation did not happen on account of them trying to kill us.  We escaped to Naboo, saved the Queen, our ship was failing and we landed on Tatooine to find replacement parts.  Ended up stopping by Ani’s old owner and getting a good deal on new parts in exchange for Anakin repairing a few things in his shop.  Then we were nearly back to the ship when Maul showed up and attacked.”

“Are you two incapable of having a mission go according to plan?  Or anything really?” Garen asks, Obi-Wan glares at his friend.  “All right, so you’re having memory problems, Darth Maul is trying to kill you, and Naboo is still under trade federation blockade?”

“Yes, Queen Amidala is hoping to gain help from the senate and has called an emergency session.” He tells them with a bitter smile, “I think we all know how that will go.”

“Yes, unfortunately now, our priority is Maul.  Why now?  The Dark Sith have been hiding for a year, not heard from at all in a month.  Suddenly Wrath’s Apprentice shows up? What’s changed?”  Garen questions, Mic and Qui-Gon share a proud look.

 ** _“I think the better question is why did they go into hiding at all?_** ** _”_** Asajj says through her training bonds, Mace sends a query back, **_“Sorry, I did not mean to send that down the bond._** ** _”_** She replies.

 ** _“Bonds dear, now what do you mean?_** ** _”_** Mic says with a fond smile.

 ** _“Just that, well Darth Wrath found the force_** ** _’s vulnerability a year ago, or it found him.  Either way he has it, he could be messing with so much but instead he_** ** _’s biding his time?  It just doesn_** ** _’t make sense.  Unless the force and her weakness have something to do with why Master Obi can_** ** _’t remember?  I do not know Masters, but something about this doesn_** ** _’t sit right._** ** _”_** Asajj tells her Masters, given that she was renowned for her natural ability to hear the force and hints of prescience were coming through in the girl, both Masters took her words very seriously.

In truth, no one had thought much about Arl’s warning of Wrath and the force’s weakness and the threat of non-existence since the order of the force was properly established.  The job of dealing with Dark Sith had been returned to the Shadows and everyone else had gone back to dealing with the order itself, obviously that had been a naïve mistake.

“My Padawan has raised a good point.” Mace addresses to room, Mic looks at him unhappily, Mace rolls his eyes. “ _Our_ padawan, anyway. Could Darth Wrath having the force’s weakness be related to Obi’s inability to remember?”

“To answer that we’d need to know what that weakness is.  And if so, why wait until now to use it?” Aayla translates for Quin, everyone was a little sick of her having to do so though she did not mind too much.  The council were all learning sign but unfortunately for some it just could not yet be a priority.   Aayla and Quin signed between themselves for a minute, the others waiting to find out if it had to do with them.  While many could understand the language, there was the possibility of it being a personal conversation so they did not look.  “Fine.” She suddenly says to her Master who grins victoriously.

“Padawan Secura?” Mace asks, she smiles sheepishly.

“I just was thinking that, Master Aa said the weakness had found _him_ and that he would use it to unravel everything.  That he _would_ not that he was.  Found _him_ not he found it.  It’s a possibility that he had no idea what it was until recently or at the very least did not know how he could exploit it for his purposes.” She tells them, they all agree, Asajj frowns.  It made sense yet something seemed off about it to the girl.

(I wish you were here Arlie.) She thinks to herself, it was one of the few times she’d allowed herself to feel this way.

“Perhaps it’s that he has only just found it?  I mean having found something sometimes just constitutes knowing the location.  Perhaps that knowledge did not go both ways.” Xan suggests absent-mindedly signing for Quin, he always appreciated knowing what someone was saying from them instead of through Aayla.  Though he was eternally grateful for everything the girl does for him.

“Either way, if he’s only just found it or learnt to use it, we could be in for a lot worse than Little Obi losing some memories.” Tahl tells them.

“What if it’s a person?” Siri asks, everyone looks confused at her, “Well we know the force is, or at least we suspect it to be so.  People tend to have other people as their greatest weaknesses, maybe that’s the only one that transcends becoming the force?”

“The force is thousands of years old, if that were the case, that weakness would be long dead.” Mace tells her.

“To be fair, so should the creator yet supposedly she is still alive.” Dooku tells them.

“Yes, but supposedly the creator _is_ the force.  The force cannot die.” Qui-Gon says.

“Evidently it can since that is the very nature of the threat we are dealing with.” Plo adds.

“Master Yoda you said she is human, humans tend to be relatively easy to kill.” Owen reminds them all, everyone looks quite uneasy.

“Human she is but said I did that die long ago she should have.  Easy to kill my Master is not.  Failed at it old age has, succeed who knows what could.”

“Arl once said that there needed to be a subsect of the Custos, trained to use force-magic that would be there to protect the force itself.  Clearly, she either thought we would find the weakness or she already knew what it is.  At the very least she believed this sect would be _able_ to protect it.” Aayla says for Quin.

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to deal with Wrath?  Then the force’s weakness is lost in time again.” Anakin says but his Master shakes his head.

“He could have told someone, he could have fail safes, it was discovered before it could be again, and like it or not, understand it or not, it is _our duty_ to protect it.”

“Well then what do you suggest?” Tholme asks sounding frustrated.

“I suggest when…Queen Amidala requests that the Jedi help her free her people, we do as we did before.  Send Qui-Gon, Anakin and I, with Owen this time of course.  Instead of killing Maul we’ll capture him and question him.” Obi replies without hesitation, Quin starts signing something but Obi sees the direction it’s going and interrupts before Aayla even begins speaking.

[I don’t like the idea of bringing…] Quin begins.

“[Anakin will be needed if we are to succeed, Owen won’t let us go without him especially if we are bringing Ani.]” Obi-Wan says and signs in response, Quin looks over at Owen who stands strongly and holds himself as a proper Jedi, Quinlan rolls his eyes but concedes the point.

“Why will Anakin be needed?” Mace asks in confusion.

“I have no kriffing idea.” He replies calmly. “Very fuzzy and incomplete memories.”

“You need his piloting skills to take out the droid control ship.” Garen tells them, everyone looks at him in surprise. “Arl told me all about Naboo after she woke me up by igniting her lightsaber in the dark after a nightmare.  I have to say, I am…concerned about this plan.  You and Qui-Gon faced off against this Sith in this situation before and it did not end well.”

“What happened?  I know it was bad but what?” Obi asks desperately, it was weird since they all knew he and Arl had spoken with each other about Naboo before and he knows too that he once remembered, it was extremely frustrating not remembering and not knowing why.

“He killed Anarch.  Of course, at the time you did not know Anarch was a Sith so perhaps he was holding back.”

“And I am a much better fighter than the last time I was this age.”

“I cannot understand why we got involved last time, we are not warriors why did we help her wage a war?” Plo asks sounding confused.

“Um…I do not remember but I’m assuming Uncle Mace pushed for it in some way.”

“Regardless, peacekeepers we are, fight a war the Jedi cannot.” Yoda tells them honestly.

“Things are hardly peaceful right now, and they are asking for help.  Or will anyway, how can we turn our backs on that?”  Mace poses the question to everyone but looks specifically at Yoda who subjects him to a suspicious look.

“Well hidden it is but frantically desperate to help them you are.” He says eventually, all heads in the room turn to look at him, Obi’s with an amused smile.

“I am not frantic, I merely believe it to be our duty.” He replies calmly, Garen reaches over to the seat beside him and pokes Mace in the cheek, “Will you take your job seriously Garen?!” Mace snaps before wincing, “Sorry.”

“That answers that question, why are you freaking?” Micah asks.

“And how did you get away with it last time?” Obi asks looking impressed, Mace levels a glare at his nephew.

“Queen Amidala is my niece and I’ve spent a lot of time with family on Naboo, it’s…home.” He eventually says when no one will let it go, Qui’s eyes widen.

“Obi-Wan, she’s your sister?  Is that why you went a little vicious destroying those droids?”

“Possibly.” He replies, Qui-Gon sighs.

“Ha, you were flirting with Obi’s sister.” Owen says to Anakin while laughing.

“I was not!” he squeaks.

“‘Are you an angel?’” Owen quotes.

“It was a serious question!  She looks like one!”

“You are not helping yourself kid.” Garen tells Anakin who pouts.

“You should have seen him the next time She and Ani met in the other timeline and kriff tenses suck in these circumstances!”

“I don’t think they were created with these circumstances in mind.” Siri tells him.

“Got to ask now though, what was it like?” Xan asks Obi-Wan with a wide amused smile, Anakin glares at him.

“Desperate, intense, and unsubtle.  To be fair though he was twenty.”

“We won’t see her again for ten years?” Anakin asks sounding sad, Owen wraps an arm around him.

“Just think little brother, by then, you might have a chance.” Ani elbows his brother in the stomach. “I deserved that.”

“Yep.” Mic adds.

“We have digressed so far I cannot remember the original topic.” Tahl complains.

“Sending Lord Anarch, Master Kenobi, Padawan Skywalker, and Padawan Lars to Naboo with Queen Amidala when she requests it should she fail with the senate in the hope that they can capture Darth Maul and question him to get the answers we need about Darth Wrath’s plans and location.” Asajj tells her, everyone looks a tad surprised, “I can keep up!” She says defensively.  Asajj knew she had a habit of zoning out mid conversation and often missed a lot of what was said in everyday life but was capable of paying attention!  Not that she ever meant to daydream, it was unbecoming of a Jedi, but her point stands, she succeeded now and she can when she tries and she’s missed half of what’s followed her comment because she’s zoned out again.  (Oh come on!) She complains to herself.  That’s when she feels it, something in the force, something was going to happen, something big.

“I move that they be allowed to go.” Tahl tells them, “On account of it being the right bloody thing to do.”  All vote in favour.

 

“So Padawan.” Dooku says catching Xanatos as he wheels down the hall after the meeting adjourns.

“Yes Master?” He asks looking up at the man briefly before looking back to where he was going.

“I could not help but notice you avoiding looking at Anarch.” He says carefully, Xan takes a deep breath, the conversation was always going to happen eventually. He really couldn’t believe it waited a year since that moment in the healer’s wing after he first woke up from being stabbed.

“We are, not in the best place of our relationship at the moment.  Nor are we in our worst mind.” Xanatos tells him, he nods.

“Is there anything you would like to talk about?” Xan spared the other man a confused glance out of the corner of his eye before once again turning his attention forward.

“It is very unlike you to get involved in other people’s affairs Ty.”

“Well, when those affairs are making _everyone_ uneasy I believe it warrants interference.”

“I am just unsure what is or is not happening between Qui and Little Obi.”

“Should that not be something you asked a year ago?”

“Quite probably but Obi-Wan has been avoiding a conversation that entire time despite me bringing it up several times.”

“Yet you have not actually stopped and demanded one.” Xanatos stops wheeling and turns his chair sharply to face the other man.

“Is there something you want to say to me Dooku?” He asks confrontationally.

“I merely wished to voice my concern for all three of you, this will not end well Xan.  I do not want the fall out of this to hurt the people around you more than it does you three.”

“What the devil are you talking about?” Xan snaps angrily.

“Clee, Anakin, Owen, Karrya.  The people already being affected by this situation and will have to clean up whatever fall out there is.  Not to mention the resulting damage of your own relationship with your other former Master, damage that has already begun to take root.  Do not do anything you cannot take back unless you are sure of where such an action will take you.  Or it will not just be you who suffers.” Dooku tells him before walking off and leaving Xanatos lost and confused in a hallway as people walk past ignoring him.

 

Mic sits in the near empty council chamber after the meeting split up, as Siri is about to leave, she turns and sees he has remained seated.

“Mic?” She asks, he continues looking blankly at the ground, makes a noncommittal hum that ignites her curiosity, “C’mon don’t leave me hanging Miccy.” He glares at her, Asajj was the _only_ one who could get away with that name.

“The first time we spoke to Sohn he told us that Wrath had found the force’s weakness and was using it, that if we didn’t stop him by Arl’s twentieth birthday, we’re all dead.”  She looks at him surprised, he smiles, “I forgot you weren’t around for that.”

“I often forget there were many years of this group being together before I rather unfortunately battled my way into it.” She replies with an amused smile, “So what do you think the weakness is?  Or how is he using it?  Why go into hiding, and why until Arl’s twentieth?  That would be six years from now.”  He nods thoughtfully.

“I thought at the time it meant it wasn’t done yet.”

“And now?”  He sighs and walks over to the window, looking out over Coruscant.

“Now, I think there is something on Naboo that he needs, I think this weakness is incomplete, he’s been building it this past year, but he’s missing something.” She nods slowly.

“It makes sense I suppose, but why another six years?” He shakes his head.

“Sohn never said anything about years, he said Arl’s twentieth.” She frowns.

“But that was nearly forty years ago.” She comments, he turns around.

“Yes, yes it was.”

“You think we are already too late?” He shakes his head as he begins to walk towards the door.

“Time does not exist Siri, we cannot run out of it.”  She looks at him in confusion.

“So what then?” He turns back to her from the door.

“There were things before the force Siri, there will be things after.  It may not be us, or what we perceive as existence or reality, but there will be _something_.  Therefore our worry should not be on the force’s survival, it is our own we must focus on.”

“What does that mean?”  He grins at her, an amused twinkle in his eye.

“I haven’t the faintest idea.” She looks at him gobsmacked, his grin grows, “Isn’t that exciting?” He asks before leaving the room.

“…*sighs*.”  Siri walks over to the window Mic had been standing at. “What could possibly be a threat to the force?”

 

 

“All right, Anakin, you go up with the pilots, Owen stay with the Queen, keep her safe.  We’ll deal with this.” Obi dictates when Qui and he stand before Maul once more, they all move to follow his directions.  The minute they leave however, the man standing before them changes, their view of Maul dropping away and being replaced with the body of Sheev Palpatine, a body they knew was being controlled by Darth Wrath himself.  Both Jedi Masters realised this was the work of an adept force illusionist, something they did not know Darth Wrath was.

The two look at each other, both knew they may not win this battle, that this was not who they trained for.  But they also knew they could not back out now, either they would win this fight….or they would die, there was no other option.

“You are not the Sith we were looking for.” Obi-Wan tells him, then wonders why that sentence seems vaguely familiar…oh well, he’ll deal with that later.

“Oh, don’t be so put out, just think of this as a nice little family reunion my dear Grandson.”  Wrath says to him.  Says to _him_ , in _his father_ _’s voice_ , Obi lunges and so the battle begins.

“ _Family reunion?_ You mean the family _you took AWAY FROM ME?!_ YOU KILLED MY MOTHER, YOU KILLED MY SISTER!  YOU MADE ME HATE MY OWN FATHER, YOU TOOK MY BROTHER FROM ME!  MY SISTER, MY _ENTIRE CHILDHOOD!_ YOU.RUINED. _EVERYTHING!_ ” He yells as they fight, Wrath’s smirk only grows before Qui-Gon joins the fight and his focus is divided.

As the fight wore on, Obi-Wan found himself remembering it and events that came before, the things he had forgotten.  Wrath was a much better fighter than his Apprentice, but they had been trained by Arlie after all and as such, they kept up relatively well.  Especially working together, then he pulled a dirty trick that Obi would later wish to murder himself for falling for it.

“Obi?”  Wrath says in a small voice as he widens his eyes, feigning panic.  For a single moment, Obi faltered, worried his father was back in control and realising that even if not, he would kill him as well in killing Wrath.  As a result, he got tossed off of a catwalk, and seriously why is there always catwalks?  He gets up and runs after the fight, only succeeding in getting blocked by a shield, his eyes widen.  He knew this part, he knew it, he _knew it_ , why can’t he remember?  Then it comes down and he gets blocked by another shield, the last one.  He sees Darth Wrath nearly slip, but the dark side is not such an asset against someone else who also uses it.  It occurs to Obi-Wan that they should be arresting him and killing him would actually be murder, then Obi-Wan watched his once lover being stabbed and suddenly prison seemed a minor inconvenience in the face of his immediate need for this fight to be over.

“NO!” He screams before using force-lightning to force Wrath down the melting pit he now remembered clearly.  The shield comes down and he runs over to Qui-Gon.

“Qui no!  Please, please don’t go, not again.” He pleads as he holds the man and sobs.

“Obi, I-I’m sorry.  About how I treated you, abou-about everything.”

“No Qui, I am, I’m sorry about Xanatos I’m sorry about everything.  I love you, I always have and I _cannot_ lose you.  Not again, dammit PLEASE!”  Qui’s eyes slowly close and his body goes lax.  “NOOOO! No No No No No.” Obi chants as he sobs over the lifeless body.  Then he feels a hand on his shoulder, he looks up and for a moment thinks he must have died as well.  A white light begins to envelope the room and the hand lowers itself to Qui-Gon’s injury and…heals it?  Yes, heals it, because now Qui is breathing.  Then he lurches forward.

“Obi!” He calls immediately.

“I’m here love, gods I’m here.” He says holding him close, he hears a horrible noise and looks over to the melting pit.

A dark red, black, and purple smoke column rises up before spreading into the shape of a horizontal disc well above their heads, this he realises, is Darth Wrath.

Obi panics, he can admit that, he knew he could not destroy his grandfather, nor did he have the tools needed to capture him (Whatever those tools even are) he thinks huffily.  Then the same white light fills the room again as it seems to pull and tear and hack away at the darkness above him before eventually it dissolves the presence.  As the last remnants of Darth Wrath sizzle from existence above him, he looks up to the figure whose white light was fading quickly leaving only the hand’s owner standing before him.  “You once told me anything was possible, I really didn’t expect you to be _this_ right.” Obi tells the figure with disbelief and wonderment in his voice as he continues holding Qui-Gon close to him and crying softly.

 

 

 

“So, Wrath is dead?” Mic asks, oddly apprehensive about the thought.

“Very much so.” Obi-Wan responds with a calm and patient smile as the council exchange bewildered looks, “Is something the matter Masters?  I would have thought this worthy of a significantly more positive reaction.”

“Yes, no, of course, it’s just…well it’s all rather anti-climactic.” Mace admits slowly, Obi-Wan smiles amusedly, “I just mean, we’ve spent all this time making plans and such big changes to bring him down, literally years of our lives, and now he’s just…gone?”

“I have spent over fifty years fighting this man, believe me when I tell you, his death does not mean this battle is over.”

“What exactly happened?” Xanatos asks, Qui-Gon looks at his life-partner curiously, wanting the explanation as well.

“Qui and I were ready to fight Maul, only as it turns out, it was Wrath disguising himself as Darth Maul.”

“And?” Tahl asks, prompting him to continue when he stalls out, Obi flinches.

“And we were woefully unprepared to deal with him.  _I_ was unprepared, I fell for a stupid ruse and consequently was separated from the fight.”

“Any one in your position would have done the same love, don’t blame yourself.”

“I WATCHED YOU DIE QUI! AGAIN.” Obi suddenly shouts at him, “I should have remembered, I should have stopped it, I should have stopped _him_.” He continues, earning several bewildered looks as he does, including from Qui-Gon.

“I thought that was a hallucination and that you had somehow healed me.” Anarch admits sheepishly, Obi shook his head.

“No, in fact, if not for a friend in high places, you’d be dead still.” Obi says, his eyes filling with tears, Anarch moves to hold his lover close. Obi-Wan buries his head in his mate’s chest, accepting the comfort and seizing the opportunity to feel his heart beat and reassure himself that his love was alive.

“What the devil are you talking about Little Obi?” Mace demands, Obi-Wan sniffles before pulling himself together, but before he has a chance to speak, a white light fills the room.

“He’s talking about me.” A voice says as a body comes into view, Mace’s eyes widen as recognition dawns on him and him alone.

“Arlie?” He asks, voice filled with disbelief, she smiles kindly.

“Hello Master.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“I still think we should have gone to the healers first.” Obi-Wan says breaking the silence.

“I assure you, he is fine, Brother.” Arl tells Obi-Wan, Xanatos stares at her incredulously.

“Oh, well if the dead girl says so it must be true!” She smiles gently at him before looking at his wheelchair.

“I missed something.” She realises sounding heartbroken.

“Arl you saved my life, walking pales in comparison.”

“Yes but, you should have been okay, you were supposed to be okay.”

“Arlie, you are here, I do not care about my legs, you are back.” He tells her rolling over, she pulls him close as much as positions will allow.

“I am fine Obi-Wan.” Qui assures his partner as the two hold each other, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll go after this, we are no doubt going to have to anyway.”

“Fine but I am holding you to that, I really want to make sure you are okay.  I mean I know you are but just in case.”

“Anything for you my love.” Qui responds, the words would have been surprising if not for the living dead woman beside them.

“What, the living fuck Arleia?” Garen demands as walks over to hug her and bury his face in her shoulder, she can feel the wetness of tears.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a while longer for me, there were things I had to do before I came back.”

“How are you here?” He asks, “How are you alive?”

“I am not.  I died Garen, I just, I’m more now.” She says stroking his head.

“More how? What?” Xan asks, she looks over at him before seeing the girl standing against the wall behind him.

She pulls away from both and walks to the wall, she stops in front of Asajj and kneels down to her height.

“You, my dear sister-padawan, are amazing.” She tells her honestly, the girl’s eyes widen.

“I am?” She asks, amazed that her idol was not only right in front of her but calling _her_ amazing.

“You saved me, in more ways than one, I cannot ever thank you enough for that.  I do not know that I deserve a holocron, but what you did was truly impressive work, I do not know that I could have done something like that.”  The girl smiles widely, Arl pulls her into a hug and gets hugged tightly back.  After they pull away Arl walks over to Micah who practically leaps at her.

“It’s really you.” He says holding her close, she smiles into his chest.

“Yes Mic, it’s really me.”  Next was Mace who stood slowly to see her.  “Hello Master.” She says, a touch of nerves in her voice before she releases it.

“My dear girl, I’ve missed you so much.” He tells her hugging his Padawan for the first time in so very long.

“And I you.” She says.  They hug for a few moments before she just goes and hugs everyone, coming to a stop in front of Yoda who stands and bows.

“Your home you are welcomed to Master.” He tells her, she returns the bow before kneeling and holding out her arms.

“It is good to see you my Padawan.” She tells him, he smiles and embraces the woman who raised him.

“Huh?” Anakin asks in shock, a feeling mirrored on every face but Qui-Gon’s.

“It cannot have been easy interacting with me when it was not quite me, believe me, I understand.  I thank you for the effort my dear youngling, you have done an impeccable job of running the order in my absence.  You all have at creating this new and beautiful Order Of The Force.  This council is not what I expected but it is far far better.  I believe history is proof that my doing things alone falls apart over time, but this, this order will forever reside in the galaxy.  Protecting it, the people in it, the peace, the order and, of course, the force.” She tells them all, tears in everyone’s eyes as they get the approval none realised they needed so very badly.

“The force does need protecting, she’s a bloody nightmare.” Qui-Gon says having put it all together, Arl laughs as everyone else looks mildly horrified save for Yoda who also laughs.

“Dear gods Arl, tell me you didn’t.” Dooku suddenly exclaims, she winks. “She’s the bleedin force!” He all but shouts.

“That’s not possible.” Tahl says staring openly at the woman before her who stands to address everyone, instantly pulling everyone’s attention.

“Everything is possible Master Tahl, ten years ago if someone had walked into this room and described this new order, said that in one singular decade, this would replace the Jedi Order, they likely would have been executed.”

“They would not have been executed Arlie.” Mace tells her rubbing a hand over his face before laugh/crying when he realises what he did and said and to whom.

“They actually might have been.” Aayla says translating for her Master, Arl looks over at Quin and grins.

[Is this a Padawan of yours I see?] She asks, he smiles and nods.  [You are lucky, she will be exceptional some day.]

[Oh Arlie, she already is.] He replies prompting the girl to hugs her Master.  Quin then gets up and hugs Arl again.

“So how exactly are we explaining this?” Tholme asks, “Somehow I think ‘She’s the force’ probably won’t go down well.”

“You should have more faith in your people Master Tholme, they may surprise you.” Arl tells him with a serene smile.

“I’m not sure I like this enlightened version of you Arlie.” Garen tells her, she laughs and wraps an arm around his waist, he puts an arm across her shoulders and pulls her in close.

“It is not enlightenment my brother-padawan, it is old-age.” She tells him, he laughs.

“Well, I knew you were senile but…” He begins, she hits him, “There she is. I don’t care if you are as old as Yoda, you are still you.”

“She trained and likely raised Yoda my former Apprentice, she’s older.” Qui-Gon tells him with a laugh.

“Not to mention the whole, ‘Creator’ thing.” Anakin adds.

“Damn how old are you?” Garen asks, she smiles.

“15’592.” She replies.

“Force damned how?” Xan asks bewildered.

“Am the force.” She sing songs, he shakes his head as though shaking off his confoundment.

“Right.”

“It’s funny, I remember being here and suddenly realising I was to be fifty soon and feeling old.  Now I am 15’593 in two months.”

“If that is what you find funny then I ban you from ever telling jokes.” Mic tells her, she smiles.

“Still none of you have lost your habit of digressing.”

“Neither Master have you.” Yoda tells her, she smiles at him.

“When you reach my age, Padawan, you will know life is too short for staying on topic.”

“Makes sense that does not.” He says, “If old you are then short life is not.”

“And that youngling, is how I know you are not this age.”

“No one is your age, it should not be possible to be your age, how did you even manage any of this?” Mace asks.

“Mic gave me a message from a friend when I was healing Xanatos, it said ‘don’t hold back.’ See there are blocks in the minds of all sentient beings that develop naturally to protect yourself.  There is only so much the human body can handle, but that does not stop you having the potential to do more.  Jedi are trained to see and recognise these barriers but never to pass them.” She explains, Owen looks thoughtful.

“But you did?” She nods.

“There are other universes that run parallel to ours though we cannot reach them, well, usually.  Earth was in one such universe.  Anyway, the thing that ties these together, that ties everything together, is energy.  The energy that creates reality itself, that’s what I tapped into.  My body could not handle that level of transference, nor could my mind, so it did the only thing it could.  I was pulled into the fabric of reality and melded into that energy, giving it a consciousness.”

“That’s how you became the force? That’s how the force was created.” Owen realises.

“So it’s like Garen said about the fuel spill, it happened here but spilt everywhere else as it spread throughout the energy that literally makes existence and, that’s what the force is?” Mace asks, Arl nods though she has no idea what he means by fuel spill, she’d ask Garen or just go back and look for the moment herself at some point.

“An amazing opportunity we have been presented with.” Plo says at the end, she turns her gaze to him.  Others looked questioning, she looked as though she already knew what he would say.  “We have been trying to find the force’s weakness, now you can tell us.”  Everyone looks to her questioningly, she sits down cross-legged on the floor.

“Now that is an interesting story.” She tells them, those with seats, take them.  Obi, Qui, Ani, and Owen sit in front of her along with Aayla and Asajj after she gestures them over.  “Wow, this is like story time from when you were a child Padawan, remember when you would bring your friends over at night and I’d tell you all stories of years long gone.” She says to Yoda who smiles fondly.

“Believe them we did not, believe some I still do not.” He tells her, she laughs, Garen watches the actions, transfixed by her beauty.  Not that anyone that can literally go anywhere in space and time, is over 15’000 years-old, and has the powers of the force would ever be interested in him but hey, a guy could dream.  Then she smiles at him and he cannot help but hope.

“After going back, creating the order, all these things, and all the way through the other timeline, I went to catch myself as my younger-self stepped off the balcony.” She says, everyone listens very closely.  “I was questioning why I had done this, was it because it had happened before?  But then what started it?  Time does not really work in paradoxes for it does not exist there for I cannot have done it without true reasoning.” She explains, no one understood but went with it. “Then I remembered why I jumped when I did, see I knew it had started, reality breaking, I wanted to die and see my Master and Garen again before we ceased to exist.  I couldn’t risk going to that time and place without being destroyed myself. I got as close as I could, metaphysically speaking, and felt my other-self leave that timeline, only I had not been the one to do it.”

“So…a future version of you will and you are still waiting for your motivation?” Garen asks trying to make sense of it.

“There is no future version of me Garen, not anymore.  Just as there is no past version either, I exist outside of your perception of time as well as in it as I am now.  I am everywhere at once, there is no order of events, things simply are for me.  If I had done it, that was when I would have done it.  I can’t go near there without it destroying me.”

“So, what does that mean?  For those of us who are not pre-eminent beings?” Mace asks, she smiles kindly at the compliment, then her smile fades into a concerned frown.

“It means there is something else out there.  Something as powerful as I am but, of a different level of existence.”

“Another force?” Yoda asks concerned, she shakes her head.

“No it is…I cannot find it in my true form, to find it I must be here but so must it be.  We are opposites of some kind, though what can be opposite me while still existing is beyond me, but perhaps that in itself is a clue.  All I know is, because of the nature of what it is and what I am, I cannot perceive it or sense it unless both it and I are in this form.  Whatever it is, it’s power rivals my own.”

“And it is your weakness?” Garen asks, she makes a face as though he was sort of right.

“Okay how about this, I am human.  I am killed the same way as you only it must be something more powerful.  For instance, if a pin were to prick you, you will not die.  If a sword were to stab you though the chest, you would.  Well I suppose it depends on where you were doing the pin-pricking, okay bad analogy.”

“We get it though, enough anyway.  You are just as vulnerable as us but only to beings or weapons of the same power or level of existence or whatever.” Owen surmises, she nods.

“You are very clever, I am impressed Owen.” She tells him, he blushes.

“Thanks Arl.”

“Yes, he is our resident genius.” Obi says knocking shoulders with him.

“I wonder if this means Shmi will stop knitting us jumpers.” Mic says suddenly, everyone looks to him in confusion except Mace who facepalms. “What? It’s how she copes with stress but there are only so many jumpers a man needs.”

“How are you going to tell her?” Obi asks.

“I’m not Obi-Wan.” She replies, Obi looks at her expectantly.

“I’m sorry, could you please repeat that? Coz to me it sounded like you said you were not going to tell your mother about you being _back from the dead_.”

“I am not back from the dead.  And I cannot stay here.”

“What?!” Anakin asks incredulously.

“I know Ani, I’m sorry, but I do not belong here anymore.  Staying in this form, it’s difficult and draining and…no longer right.”

“Arl, you said it yourself, you can’t sense it unless you are both in this form.” Siri tells her, she nods.

“Yes, which is exactly how I know it will do it’s very best to never be in this form.  All me doing here does is put me in a vulnerable position, I only came back now to warn you all and to save Arch.” Xan smirks triumphantly at that earning a raised eyebrow from Arl.

“Sorry, private joke with someone not even in the room.”

“I need you all to find this entity and destroy it.” Ignoring Xan, everyone looks shocked.

“How exactly are we supposed to do that?” Plo asks, “And why can’t you just do it if we find them?”

“I can’t risk getting killed, if I go, we all do.” She says with a sad smile that says she would much rather be the one putting herself in danger.

“That doesn’t answer the first question.” Mace points out, she nods, acquiescing.

“There is a device out there, one that I believe this other entity helped Wrath construct without telling him exactly what it did.  Afterall, why would he build something that would bring himself down as well? You need to get your hands on this device and destroy the other being with it.”

“If Wrath built it, and he’s dead now, then that should be easy, there is no one to use it, we just have to find it, right?” Anakin asks hopefully, Xan cringes and shakes his head.

“Maul.” He says, Anakin’s face falls.

“Obi-Wan do you remember what happened to Maul in the other timeline?”

“Yeah, he went missing on Mandalore, turns out Sidious had him, when I,uh…was in the company of Sidious, he complained about Maul having stolen something from him.  He had finally put his great plan in motion, only Maul sabotaged it and escaped, stealing whatever this plan was as he did.” Obi-Wan replies, Arl nods thoughtfully.

“I had wondered.  You mentioned it started, only reality didn’t end because we are here.” Tholme tells them, Arl smiled.

“My thinking exactly.”

“If Maul now has this device in this time or whatever, then all we succeeded in doing today is killing my brother?” Mace asks sadly, Arl cringes.

“I forgot about that, sorry.” Arl says.

“You didn’t kill him Arl, I did.  If I had stopped to think about it I’d have realised it would not work.  Of course, that is not the only complication added.  This means that Wrath survived being thrown by Vader in the other timeline, it also means that I’ve technically committed murder.  He had a warrant out for arrest, we should have brought him in.”  Obi tells her.

“To be fair, you had just watched me die, you weren’t in your right mind.” Qui-Gon tells him, he smiles sadly.

“Did you see how I killed him Qui-Gon?” Qui shakes his head, Obi’s smile turns self-deprecating. “Then you really cannot argue my innocence.”

“What did you do?” Anakin asks hesitantly, Obi winces.

“Obi it wasn’t that bad.” Arl tells him.  “It’s not as though Sohn took over and you went dark.”

“No I just used force lightning to throw him into a melting pit.” Obi snarls, no one sounds overly surprised, nor do they seem prepared to punish him.

“Given your circumstances Obi-Wan, your decision to use a Sith ability in that scenario is not only unsurprising, it was expected.” Mace tells him honestly, Arl smiles.

“Sith ability?” She asks.

“Continue calling to the dark side we could not.  Name things others can too know you.” Yoda tells her, she smirks.

“Are you still annoyed about the plant?” She asks, he grumbles something unintelligible, “If you had named it something pronounceable by humans I would have called it by its name Padawan.” He just glare at the floor, she huffs.  “In any case, I am glad you lot are no longer attempting to fit me into two separate boxes.”

“This is weird, we are conversing with the embodiment of the force.” Obi says, she laughs.

“Believe me, it was weirder becoming the force.  It does not exactly come with an instruction manual, nor a welcoming committee.  I did not even know what was happening for a time…or well, not a time but…anyway…”

“Your life is weird.” Garen tells her, she smiles.

“Yes, yes it is.”

“What do you mean Wrath survived Vader killing him?” Qui-Gon asks confused, Obi looks thoughtful.

“Killing the body does not kill the spirit possessing it, the fall would have killed my Father, but not Grandfather.  So what happened to him afterwards?  Though I suppose it does not matter, we aren’t living in that version of events anymore, they can deal with it.  I just can’t help but wonder if Vader knew it would not kill him when he did it.”

“Vader does not exist, not for you, not anymore.  There was nothing more you could have done for him Little Obi, and no point to torturing yourself now.” Arl tells him, eyes shining with old grief, he nods. “Now my dear Saviour, would you like to regain the use of your legs?”  She asks, Xan’s eyes widen.

“You can…, of course you can, you are the force.  Damn.” He all but whispers the last word.

“She brought me back from the dead, you are surprised that she can fix a spinal injury?” Qui asks, Obi hits his arm.

“It’s a big moment Qui, don’t ruin it.”  Arl looks around the room and smiles.

“What are you smiling at?” Mace asks.

“Twice now I have thought I would never see any of you again, yet here we all are.  What was once our biggest threat, is dead, and our order is united.  I have longed for this day for over 15’000 years, I can scarcely believe it is here.”

“Our job is not over yet, we still must find this other entity and Darth Maul.” Plo reminds her, she nods.  “First however, I believe you have friends that would no doubt love to know you are well.  And a spine to heal, perhaps a pair of ears too?” He continues nodding to Quin who looks taken aback.

“Friends, yes, they exist.  I had…forgotten.  Um spine, perhaps we should go to the healer’s wing, I am sure that Terza would appreciate being able to monitor the process.  Ears, that will definitely require the healers.  [I can bring back your hearing but since you have been deaf so long, it would be quite a shock to your brain.  Not to mention how loud everything will sound at first.]”  She says, specifically looking and signing to Quin for the last part.

[I am not sure I want to heal it, if I am that affected by dark energy again then it can be taken from me.  Cannot lose what you do not have.] He signs back, she gives him a calculating look.

[You and I can speak about that later, for now though, “Healers anyone?]” Arl asks.

“We need everyone to know you are alive before you go prancing through the halls.” Tholme objects as Arl walks to Xan and grabs the handles of his wheelchair to push him along.

“No you don’t, and I am not alive. Besides, I will not be sticking around long enough for it to matter, though I will pop in on occasion if needed.” She replies dismissively, “Why do you even have a wheelchair?  Hoverchairs were invented right?  I did not imagine that?”

“The wheelchair takes effort and muscle, I feel less useless than if I were just floating around.” He replies she makes a face as she accepts his point.  Arl pushes Xan for a while before complaining that she’s a meta-physical being and no longer use to physical labour.  He laughs and begins to push himself while telling her that she started doing it herself to begin with.  Everyone but Plo had come with them though Tholme only went half way before being called away by someone.

“ARL AA!?” Bant screams when she sees her, from the other end of the freakin hallway.  Yoda smirks as Mace winces.

“Hello Bant.”


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

“To truly appreciate this incredible journey, you must bear in mind that our focus determines our reality.  In a general sense, focus would mean whatever we pay the most attention to, reality being the world we as individuals live.  On a larger scale, the scale I once lived on, focus means perception and reality…well, it means reality.” – From the Holocron biography of Arl Aa, created by Asajj Ventress.

 

“Hello Bant.” Arl says to her friend with a smile, she leaves the group to go say hi, all wait for her.

“‘Hello Bant.’  _HELLO BANT?!_ What the hell is going on Arl?” She yells before taking a deep breath and composing herself, she was not an initiate, she would not behave as one, lest her Master regret knighting her.  “Are you not meant to be dead?” She asks after centring herself.

“Yes, and I am.” She replies calmly, Bant’s eyes widen.

“Are you a walking a corpse?”

“Bant you watched my body burn, how could I possibly be using that corpse?”

“Are you using another one?”

“I really need to work on my choice of words…” Arl says before smiling the graceful smile that seemed permanently etched on her face until she forcibly changed it. “I am no corpse.  Simply an embodiment of my being created through the power I gained after my passing.” She replies, Bant looks confused, if she had eyebrows, she’d have raised one, Asajj was sure of it.  She was also sure that Arl had not thought about what coming back would be like, and that she had spent too much time looking at things from above.  Honestly, Asajj was equal parts worried for her and curious about how that will become apparent to the others.  Unless it already had, she’s a Padawan after all, surely the others will have noticed what she noticed.  Yet she suspects only Plo will have noticed, the others too caught up on her being back to look beyond it.

“An embodiment of your being?  The power you gained?  Arl what is happening?” Bant asks fighting back the tears that fill her eyes, Asajj had not even been aware that Mon Calamari could cry…fascinating.  

“There is an energy in the universe, in all of them actually.  It binds them together, it _is_ reality.  I tapped directly into that when I saved Xan, it claimed me after I died.  Giving it a consciousness, my consciousness, well it made a person out of itself, sort of.  Basically, I brought it vaguely more into this spectrum of reality, in other words, I am the force.” She explains, Bant’s eyes widen even further.  She had big eyes to begin with, this is getting creepy.

“I have learnt to accept a great many things since I met you Arl but…nope, no but.  Why are you here then?  Don’t you have force-like things to do?”

“There’s a good question.” Garen says, Arl smiles reassuringly at them both.

“There is very little that requires my direct attention more than you all right now.” She replies kindly.

“Then how come you got distracted and arrived three months _after_ you died?” Qui-Gon asks, Arl laughs almost angelically, honestly her grace and serene aura reminded Obi-Wan of the daughter on Mortis. 

“I said very little, not nothing.  I was looking for the other entity. Besides, you had no need of me until now.”

“Yes, that makes sense.” Obi concedes.

“Beg to kriffing differ Little Obi.” Bant says, Arl laughs again.

“Bant my dear, there is a lot of this reality that you do not know, that none of you do nor will you ever.  Make peace with that, often things are kept from you to protect you.”  Asajj thought Arl’s words sounded…off somehow…

“I do not need protecting Arl.” Bant growls, Arl smiles warmly.

“Then perhaps you should look at why anyone would believe otherwise.” Bant frowns, “We are going to the healer’s wing, would you care to join us?”

“We have half the temple coming anyway.” Aayla says for Quin.

“We are hardly half the temple Quinlan, Arl just has a habit of picking up people who care for her and refuse to leave her when she has a habit of _dying on them._ ” Dooku says, Arl rolls her eyes fondly, the first break of the pure serene-like happiness that Bant had seen.

“I have died on you once Dooku, do not exaggerate.”

“Twice if you count the other timeline.” Obi-Wan adds, “Which I at least do.”

“Three times if you also count the minute you stopped breathing when we were in the company of Maul.”  Aayla adds for Quin, Arl frowns thoughtfully.

[Arl?]  Quin signs directly for her, Aayla still says it aloud to others.

[Maul died yesterday in the other timeline.]

[So?]

[So, there must always be two.  Yet Dooku was not his Apprentice until many years later.  Surely he would not have waited so long.]

[They broke the rule of two long ago Arl.]  Dooku adds.

[Yes, but Wrath always has an Apprentice.  He lost you and got Maul within a year.  Trust me, I saw it.]  Dooku raises an eyebrow, [Am the force Ty.]

[Right, so what does this have to do with now?] Quin asks, Arl’s frown deepens.

[I am not sure yet.] She answers before visibly shaking it off and chirping back up, “[Shall we continue on?]”

 

When they finally make it to the Healer’s wing, they had been stopped eleven more times, each time Arl told them the truth.  Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had left the others, Obi dragging him straight to Terza as he had promised.  The others were shocked when most people believed her instantly, some did not.  When that happened Arl merely smiled and told them it was their choice to believe her or not but it would not change the truth.  Then Padawan Chun told her to prove it.

“Padawan, I am 15’592 years old, I created this order, watched it grow and change.  I raised Yoda from the time he was first brought into the creche since I was assisting in the creche at the time.  I have seen war and death and destruction, the saddest and happiest moments in history.  You do not require proof of this, if you cannot listen to the force you feel and if you refuse to have faith in your fellow order members, then you will not last very long in the field.  Open your mind Padawan Chun, you will know what I am telling you to be true, however it is not on me to make you believe.  That is a choice you must make, I hope you find peace with it.  Good day Padawan.”  She said all this calmly, with a smile on her face.  She then bowed to him respectfully and continued on her way.  Not once did she grow frustrated, not once did she raise her voice or become condescending at all.  When Bruck returned to his quarters that day, he told his Master he had met the force and asked for help in allowing it to guide him.  His Master’s happiness could have filled the entire temple as he immediately began thinking of different ways to do so.

Finally at the healer’s, Arl walks without preamble, to check on Qui-Gon, knowing exactly where he is.

“Good morning Healer Terza, how are you today?” Arl asks with a polite bow as she enters the room with the others.

“I am well, how are you Master Aa?” No one was really all that surprised that she was the calmest of those to have found out.

“Happier than I have been in quite sometime.”

“That is always good news, I assume there is a reasonable explanation for your presence here?” She asks as she completes her examination of Qui-Gon.

“Explanation? Yes, reasonable? Depends on your point of view I suppose.”

“Everything is about perception with you, Little Obi is there a reason you brought a completely healthy man to me?” She asks looking at the man in question expectantly.

“Told you.” Qui replies, Obi rolls his eyes.

“He died but the force brought him back, I just wanted to check.” He explains.

“A wise decision, but he is fine I assure you.  Now then, dazzle me.” Terza says turning her attention to Arl.

“I am the force.” She replies simply, Terza regards her calculatingly.

“Prove it.” She replies without malice, everyone was awaiting a similar reaction to the one she gave Bruck, except Asajj.  She felt the difference in Arl between the two, the difference in the way the request was given and the intent behind it as well.

Arl holds an arm out in front of her, her hand glows white before it seems to spread out and fade away into nothing, it goes up her arm until it ended at her elbow, the glowing and whispering tendrils of energy at her elbow remaining but all other trace of her forearm gone, then she brought it back.

“Good enough.” Terza tells her with a smile before moving and hugging her. “I believe my former Padawan is making out with her boyfriend in her office if you would like to give them a heart attack.”

“Perhaps a discussion on appropriate work place behaviour as well.” Mace comments, Terza waves him off.

“He proposed to her during her lunch break, I figured I’d let them off this once.  It’s not as though this is a regular occurrence, you know what the two of them are like.”

“Why would he propose during her lunch break?” Garen asks incredulously.

“You’d have to ask him that.  Given how close you lot were, I’m surprised you, Bant, and Obi didn’t know it was coming.”  The three look guiltily at each other.

“What’s going on?” Arl asks concerned.

“The five of us have sort of grown apart.  Between the changes of the order, and the council, and missions and such.  We just don’t have a lot in common lately, nothing to talk about and no time to spend together.” Bant replies.

“Not just those two, the three of us have not spent much time together lately either, though Obi and I more than most because of council stuff but that’s all work.” Garen tells her, she looks sad.

“Children, honestly.  Not having anything in common in what you do now is what gives you loads to talk about.  Missions, the people you meet, the different lives you lead, that is what you talk about.  And as for not having time?  There is this thing called comms, if time were the only problem then Reeft would have comm’d to tell you about this.  You lot have the choice of friends and company, do not allow yourselves to be isolated.  It is not a nice feeling.” Arl tells the three of them, all of which look thoroughly chastised.  “Now, let’s go give Terza two heart attacks to deal with.  Then we will come back and fix Xan’s spine.”

“We’ll all wait here and give you four sometime with them.”  Mic tells them.

“The rest of us should actually go do our jobs.  There is really no need for us to be here.” Mace adds looking around questioningly to the others who nod, “Family dinner at our place tonight though?  6th hour? Arl, no running off until afterwards, understand?”  All nod their agreement, Arl nodding again when Mace looks to her directly, and so go their separate ways.  Asajj seems at a loss of what to do so Arl smiles at the girl.

“Come on.” She says to her, Asajj smiles and skips over, taking the hand offered to her and accompanying the four to their friends.

 

“Knock knock, coming in and there’s a ten-year-old with us so you had better be decent.”  Bant says through the office door.

“Get in here Eerin.” Bellan calls, her voice full of laughter.  Bant opens the door and sees the two sitting on the ground in front of her desk, cuddled together.  “Can I help you with something?” She asks happily.

“Yes, a few things.  One, we have a dead friend here to see you.  Two, congratulations!  Three, I am very sorry that I haven’t made enough time for any of you lately. I hate that we have grown apart enough for number four to come into play.  Also, four, Reeft how could you not tell us you were going to propose?!”  Bellan stands up and hugs her.

“We aren’t apart anymore.  So, no apology necessary.  Besides, none of us are innocent in that.  Especially the dead friend I see and now remembering you mentioning.” She says eyes wide as she sees Arl behind her, or some adult version of Arl anyway.  “I did not even recognise you for a moment but, honestly you mostly seem longer.  Your eyes are really odd, in that they’re normal.”

“Thank you?”

“Arlie?” Reeft asks surprised before going and hugging her.  “That is weird timing.”

“How in all the Sith hells is the timing the weird part?” Garen asks, Obi raises an eyebrow at him, “It’s not offensive if I say it.”

“It is to sensitive ears.” He replies gesturing to Asajj who smiles.

“Master Obi, I once watched Master Miccy attempt to continue an argument with Master Moo Moo before he had his morning tea.  I do not have sensitive ears.”  Everyone laughs a little at that.  “So back to the weird timing…”

“Right, Reeft had a dream about you the other night.  Not exactly a pleasant one either.” Bellan tells them, Arl looks to him in concern.

“What did you dream?” She asks kindly and patiently.

“It was weird, Aayla was hurt and there were these ships.  They attacked wherever we were, I don’t remember where, and it killed Bellan.  Then I destroyed both ships with the force and apparently drove myself mad in doing so because I then contacted you before shooting myself in the head with a blaster.”

“WHAT THE SHIT DID YOU DO?!” Obi suddenly turns and screams in Arl’s face, she remains calm but with a thoughtful frown on her face.

“I did not do it Little Obi.”  She replies offhandedly as she all but ignores him.

“Was Aayla in a coma?” Asajj asks Reeft who nods still looking shocked at the outburst, as was everyone, including Asajj only she had decided to press forwards.

“How did you know?”

“I believe that’s how you died in the other timeline.”  She says looking for confirmation from Obi who nodded distractedly as he tried to calm down, she remembers him mentioning it briefly when she was quizzing him about the other timeline for the holocron.

“I apologise for that, I’ve had a rough few days.” He explains.

“Wrath is dead though.” Garen says happily, “Oh, I forgot to mention earlier.  The arrest warrant out was for you father not for your grandfather, it allowed for lethal force if needed so you are not going to be arrested for murder.”

“Good to know I am getting away with murder like my Grandfather did when he killed my mother.”

“You need to meditate my friend.”

“Wrath’s dead?” Bellan interjects.

“Arl and Obi killed him.”

“Brilliant.  Now if this is from the other timeline then why was my fiancé dreaming of it?” Bellan asks her smile reappearing at the term, Reeft wraps an arm around her shoulders and kisses her head.

“Yes, congratulations by the way.” Garen says hugging them both, then Obi does as Garen nudges Arl to focus on her surroundings.  She immediately brightens and moves to congratulate them as well.

“I am so very happy for you both, marriage is a wonderful and happy thing but engagement, that’s the excitement filled part.” She tells them with a smile.

“Have you been married Arlie?” Garen asks curiously, Arl smiles at him.

“Three times.” She responds.

“Only three in all that time?”

“Well it is not as though I just jump from one spouse to the next.  There is a process of grieving when they die of old age or other such causes.  Besides, after a certain point you get sick of loving those you know you will lose.  In my case being everyone.”

“Well that is depressing.  Explanation?” Bellan asks after everyone is quiet for a while, Garen attempting to swallow down the rejection lumping in his throat.  He knew it was not so much a rejection as self-preservation on her part, he cannot imagine going through that but…it still meant he had no hope.

“I turn 15’593 in two months, also I am the force.” Reeft looks at Garen with questioning eyes, he nods.

“Damn, sorry it’s not that I don’t believe you just…damn.”

“Why is everyone saying damn now?” Arl asks confused.

“Do…people do it often…?” Garen asks, Asajj laughs.

“Yes Schlau, yes they do.” She tells him, Arl smiles at the girl.

“You are pretty cool you know that?  Observant, intelligent, hard-working, cunning, obedient, strategic thinker.  You were in the other timeline too but, you are so warm-hearted now, I am glad you are my sister-padawan.  Our Masters are lucky to have you.” She tells the girl who smiles and hugs her again.

“Awwwww, you don’t even know what you just did but it was fracking adorable.” Bant tells her, Arl looks at her confused as Asajj buries her head into Arl’s stomach to hide the blush.  Most humans can’t see it on her species but she got the feeling Arl would be able to tell.  She is the force after all.

“Don’t ask.” Asajj whispers not intending for anyone to hear, merely just pleading to…the force…oops.

“I do not know why you are dreaming of the other timeline, it is not anything I did.”  Arl says returning them to their conversation.

“If not you and by extension the force the way we think of it, what else could?” Bellan asks, Arl contemplates this.

“Five possibilities, two highly improbably, one entirely theoretical, two equally likely.” She answers.

“Right, force, knows everything.” Obi says shaking away his momentary confusion at getting an actual answer to such a question.

“I do not…whatever.” She says, it the first show of frustration they have seen, Asajj thinks maybe she’s been in her pure form for a while and is reintegrating her human emotions with her embodied self but some are taking a while to download.

“The other entity, Maul, someone somehow doing what you did to Master Obi…nope I’m out of ideas.” Asajj guesses, Arl gives her an impressed look.

“Other Entity, Maul taking advantage of it’s power somehow, someone from another future giving Reeft his memories on a subconscious level through some other means, also there is a theory on Earth that there are other realities that can be exact in almost everyway but different in the others.  Anything that can happen will happen.  As such, it’s impossible for there not to be another version of me or the other entity out there, if some other me or another version of the other entity entered this reality somehow, then they may be able to do it.”

“I assume that’s the theoretical one?” Bant asks, Arl nods. “Other entity and Maul being equally likely, future person highly improbable, what’s the other highly improbable one?”

“Something I’ve never heard of or know to be possible.” Arl answers.

“Fair.” Reeft says, “But how do we find out?”

“We are down one and a half options.” Arl announces earning confused looks. “If it were simply someone from the future I’d be able to know that someone moved from where they are supposed to be, there’s not beside Obi’s memories being out of place.  If it were some alternate version of me I would sense it in you but I do not.  That does not discount an alternate version of the entity.  Therefore, one and a half possibilities gone.  My usual ways of finding out are exhausted but there are a few avenues I can follow, I will do that tonight if you wish?” Reeft nods, trusting her.

“In the meantime, Master Xanny’s legs?” Asajj reminds Arl whose eyes light up in remembrance and she nods.

“Right, I forgot, thank you Asajj.”

“You seem to forget a lot of things Arl.” Garen says in concern, she smiles placatingly.

“It’s been a few millennia since I was last here Garen, in this way anyway.  Some things have slipped from my mind.  And just now, I moved my focus marginally from the here and now to outside this spectrum of reality, sometimes things don’t hold in memory the way it should in this form.  That and my brain has always moved too quickly for me to keep up with, only now there is a hell of a lot more being processed.  I get lost in my head sometimes when I try to normal human.” She explains, He laughs at her description and throws an arm around her shoulders as they all leave the room, Arl grabbing Asajj’s hand and leaning her head on her once-best friend’s shoulder.  “Oh, I just realised…” She says suddenly before her eyes glaze over as she focuses on something else, Garen and Asajj exchange confused looks and both shrug.  Then her presence in the force…or their perception of such things anyway, changes.  Any force-sensitive would be able to feel and see what she is upon meeting her now.

“How?” Reeft asks looking at what could only be described as beauty and power.

“I just brought more of myself forward, saves me an explanation…possibly.” She says with a thoughtful look before it melts away, replaced immediately by that ever graceful smile.  The group make their way back to Qui-Gon’s room where Xanatos is hooked up to a bunch of monitors and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.  Arl looks at him with a smile of total happiness, Garen feels a flare of an old jealousy before he chastises himself and does as Lord Anarch taught him, makes it apart of himself that he may use and learn from.  It melts into the rest of him, allowing him to once again think clearly.

“Hello Angel, I have to say I was a tad worried you’d not come back and I’d wake up to find I was dreaming.” Xan tells her, she smiles.

“I suppose a dead friend appearing to you would indeed have that affect.  Now, shall we give you full use of your body back?” She suggests with a blinding smile, he returns it.  “Terza, Garen, would you two help him sit forward and remain still?” She requests, they agree and move to do so.  “Now, this would be easier if I were not in this form, there would be no physical being to deal with so I don’t know if this could go wrong.  If it does I simply return to my other form temporarily and fix it.  Should that happen I need everyone here to wait until Xan can move his legs and then think of every painful, emotional and physical, thing that has ever happened to you.” She instructs, everyone looks confused but they all agree.  “Brilliant, now hold still Xan.”  She says as her hands start glowing, she senses for the part of his back that is not how it once was and places her hands over it, then the light fades away.

“What happened?” Garen asks, she smiles sheepishly.

“I forgot about pain, my own words reminded me.  He should probably be sedated or under the influence of heavy pain medication before I do this.” She tells them, Xan chuckles. “What?”

“You forgot about pain.” He says, “That’s just not a normal sentence.”

“Obi forgot about pain all the time during the war.” She says with a glare his way, he rolls his eyes.

“I was focused on other things, excuse me for forgetting about a bit of pain.”

“Obi-Wan you’d been stabbed in the side and your ankle was broken!”

“I. Was. _Busy_.”

“So, sedation or heavily drugged?” Terza asks Xan who shrugs.  “Well if we go heavy drugs, we can tell immediately if it works.  Sedation we have to wait for you to wake up.”

“Arl can’t you just put him to sleep and wake him up again afterwards?”

“Sleeping people still feel pain Bant.” Bellan answers for Arl who nods to her.

“Right.” Bant says shaking her head as she realised the stupidity of the statement.

“Drug me up.” Xan tells Terza who rolls her eyes but does so.

“We have to wait for it to take effect.”

“So why do we need to think of all painful things if you go ‘full-force mode’?” Reeft asks curiously.

“It was Obi-Wan’s pain and suffering that led me back here after Qui died.” Arl tells them, “Large changes in things make it easier for me to pinpoint where I am going.  Emotions are one of the easiest things to change and it is a lot easier to make yourself sad than it is to make yourself happy.” She replies, the others just kind of look at her. “What?”

“Nothing.  But at some point, I think we need a crash course on social interactions and human emotions.”  Garen tells her, she looks confused, he chuckles at it before hugging her again, she smiles and hugs him back.

“I am getting so much love today.”

“Of course you are, not every day your older/younger/ _waaay_ older sister visits from beyond the grave.” Obi-Wan tells her with a smile, she smiles back.

“I wonder where they were taking me.” Arleia says a full minute of silence later earning confused looks from all those present. “I was just thinking that if Xan and Qui had not gotten me off that ship we would not be here.  But where would I be?  All of you would presumably still be here, or dead or fallen in the case of Qui and Xan…possibly, who knows what Wrath would have done differently without my presence.  But I do not know where the trade federation was taking me, so I’ve no idea what would have happened to me.” She explains.

“Why did they even kidnap you?”

“I do not know, I was nothing but a mildly force-sensitive slave at that point.”

“If Wrath wanted you as part of his revenge on Plagueis that may have been his initial plan.  Kidnap you and kill you in front of him, or torture or something.  Or raise you and train you and turn you against him.  Given your feelings towards him at the time I imagine it would not have been difficult.” Qui-Gon replies, she nods.

“Fair call.  The Trade Federation did have strong ties to him in the other timeline.”

“You’d have made a terrible Dark Sith.” Obi tells her, she smiles.

“Brother, you have not seen my Dark Side.” Xan giggles, they all look at him.

“Dark Side, and she’s the force.” He says before giggling again.

“I did not even mean to make that pun but let’s go with it, meanwhile I think the drugs have taken affect.” Arl replies, then she looks thoughtful, “Of course, there may be a far simpler explanation for all of it…”  The others look confused as she appears to be deep in thought, snapping out of it when Xan speaks.

“My face feels funny, is that supposta happ’n?” He slurs to Terza, swaying slightly as he sits.

“You said heavy.” She says to Arl’s raised eyebrow, Arl nods.

“Let’s do this.”  Garen and Terza hold him as they did before, more securely to keep him still now that he isn’t really trying.  Arl’s hands glow again, she finds the correct spot and alters everything back to how it was before the injury.  The glow dies and she steps away. “You can let him go now.”  They lay him back on the bed, he has tears streaming down his face. For a moment they are worried the medication had not worked properly and he felt it all, but he smiles even as his glazed eyes sway around the place.

“I c’n feeel may legs Arlsss.” He says patting his thigh with his hand, she smiles down at him.

“Can you move it?” She asks, Terza takes off his shoes and socks, “Wiggle your toes for me?” Arl asks seeing what the healer is doing, Terza smiles at her, she nods.  Then his toes move.

“Force.” Bellan exclaims breathlessly as tears fill her eyes too, Arl sends her an amused smirk.

“Can you heal the muscle atrophy?  It’ll seriously lessen the physical therapy required.” Terza tells her, she nods and does so.  “Thank you, Arlie, truly.” She says placing a hand on the woman’s arm and looking her in the eyes with complete serious sincerity.  Arl lays a hand over the hand on her arm.

“He’s my friend, of course.  All of you, any time you need help, I am there.” She tells them all.

“Havyou said thatoo others befo?” Xan asks her, strangely focused on her, she smiles.

“Yes, on Earth, in the other timeline, possibly here and throughout my life.”

“Have you been?”

“When they needed it.” He smiles.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome, I’m only sorry I failed to heal you properly the first time.” He waves her off uncoordinatedly and ends up hitting her in the face.

“Oopsie.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She tells him, Obi’s comm chimes.

“Kenobi.”

“Master, it’s Ani.  Our parents are here, are you still with Arlie?”

“Yeah, take them to our quarters, we’ll meet you there.”

“Ani, do they know…” Arl starts asking when her youngest brother interrupts.

“They know everything Owen and I know.”

“Brilliant, see you soon.” Arl says, Obi shuts off the comm.  “We have to go Xan, will you be okay with Anarch?”

“What are they even doing here?” Obi asks, Arl shrugs.

“I suppose I am telling them after all though.”

 

 

“Do you remember years ago when we had family dinners and we all fit at one table?” Obi asks as they walk, she smiles.

“Yeah.”

“It’s better this time.” He says, she knows he does not just mean the family dinners or this life.

“Yes, it is.”

“Just think, eight years and you can take Quilo as your Padawan again.” He says with a smile as they get into an elevator, her smile falters.  “You are going to be here aren’t you?  You aren’t going to force out on us?”

“Force out on you?”

“Yeah you know, go be the force again.  Not in this form.”

“I already said I cannot stay here Obi. Drop in when you need help sure but…but I can’t just be a Jedi.”

“Yes, but why?”

“I’m dead Obi-Wan.”

“So?  We can change the file from deceased to active, no big deal.”

“I can’t just go on missions and stuff, I’m the _force_ Obi, that complicates things.  And it’s cheating and unfair on whoever I am up against or negotiating with.”

“First of all, that’s ridiculous, you are what you are just as anyone else, it’s not cheating.  Secondly, if that bothers you so much just don’t go in the field.  I’m a Jedi so I cannot make the decision, you’d have to speak to the Custos, but they never did get that sub-sect for force-magic users.  You could make it, train others.  Arlie, this is _your_ order.  You made it, you nurtured it, you allowed it to grow on its own, and then helped it find its way again.  You belong here more than any of us.”

“As the creator and as the force, yes.  But I am more than that, I am a person as well and that person has changed so much since I was last here as ‘Master Aa’.”

“People change Arl, you can’t be the person you were.  I think that’s why you didn’t call yourself Arleia Skywalker this time around when Xan found you, you weren’t her anymore.  You’d become Arl Aa a long time ago.  Now you are something else, something more.  There’s nothing wrong with that, you’ll find your way here again while we get to know the new parts of you.  But you are always still Arleia Skywalker, Arl Aa, hell even Phoebe Holp.  We still know you, there’s just more to get to know as well.  Three months changes things too, you have stuff to know as well.  We’ll all get there.” He tells her, she gives him a watery smile.

“I can’t so long as the other entity is around, you know that.”

“And after?” He asks looking hopefully at her, Arl bites her lip, she sighs.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thanks Sis.” He says wrapping an arm around her shoulders, it was the perfect height to do so now that she was full grown.  Arl’s never been a tall person but he’s only half a foot taller, if that. “Now, let’s go make our parents the happiest they’ve been in years.” She nods and so they enter the room.

“Hey Mum, Dad.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Hey Mum, Dad.”

“By all the gods…Arlie…it’s really you.” Shmi says with tears streaming down her face, she walks forwards and places a hand on her daughter’s cheeks, she can feel the power radiating out from the woman before her, thrumming beneath her fingertips.  She gasps in surprise at the feeling before realising what it was, seeing her daughter through the force, or as it happens, through herself.  “Oh force…erm…I-I do not even know what to say.  About-about any of this.  I am just so glad you are home Arleia, I have missed you so much.” She says before embracing her daughter.

“We both have.” Cliegg adds, Arl smiles and holds out a hand which she takes, she pulls him into the embrace.  “Someone want to explain how this is possible though?  The boys said you are the force but…how?”  Arl takes a deep breath as she gestures for everyone to have a seat on the couches along with her.

“A long time ago, from my perspective, I saved Xanatos and in doing so sacrificed my own life.  What I did to save him, I tapped into the force in its purest form, something no one should _ever_ do.  Our minds have subconscious restraints to prevent people from doing exactly that.  Growing up here, they teach you to recognise those restraints but be wise enough to never ever go near them.  The force had a message for me, to stop holding back, I knew what I had to do and I did it.  I honestly was not sure what would happen, I did not know then but now know many Sith have lost their lives or sanity or both in doing the same thing.  But for me, the energy the universe is made of, which is the force by the way, melded my soul into it after my death.  My being a part of it gave it a mind, a consciousness, the ability to sentient thought.  It made what once was vastly powerful energy into what you all know to be the force today.”

“And, that’s you?” Cliegg asks with a frown as he struggles to understand.

“That’s me.  This extension of myself is everywhere, everywhen.  Obviously, I cannot consciously process all of that information, so a lot of what is happening and what I get used for I do not know of unless I go looking for it.  Right now, even less so because I have taken on this form.  It is…disorienting to be so cut off from myself and everything else, I have not been in this form in…not time exactly but a portion of my existence large enough for me to notice.” Obi-Wan looks at him quizzically.  “Let’s just not even get _into_ time and the passing of it.”

“Agreed.  For now, let’s just be glad you are back, everything else can come later.” Shmi tells her and hugs her again, she holds her mother tightly.

“Oh…” She says suddenly.

“What?” Obi asks, Arl smiles sheepishly.

“I forgot something.”

“What this time?”

“I forgot that the pain I would have felt were I still alive I now feel because of the way I have taken this form and the effort I’ve put into making it reality.”

“Are you in pain?!” Shmi asks pulling back, suddenly panicked.  Arl winces, though not from pain but from regret.

“No Mum, well, not pain exactly.  I forgot that I never mentioned this to anyone…oops.”

“Your memory is terrible.” Obi tells her, she ignores him in favour of giving her Dad her attention as he speaks.

“What haven’t you mentioned?” He asks, she smiles sheepishly again.

“The scars on my arms from the explosion years ago, they pull and sting sometimes.  Always happens when I am hugging someone.  I have not hugged anyone in a while before coming here again you see but I was still putting this form together, this is the first hug I have gotten since my return that I have felt it.”

“You haven’t hugged anyone in a while?” Anakin asks, his voice, despite being quieter, was heard clearer than the others protests about not being told and her hiding it and such.

“I believe the last time would have been…let’s see Yoda was 28 when I left the order, a century after that so that’s…about 850 years ago was the last time I was in this form.”

“That sounds lonely.” Cliegg comments, Arl seems surprised.

“I suppose…yes, lonely.  I apologise, I have not attempted to name an emotion for…a long time.  Thinking of such things this way again…it has been much longer than 850 years.”

“Are you going to be okay being here Arlie?” Owen asks seriously, she considers the question with a tilt of her head as she bites her lip. 

“I will have to readjust, I have not had to process and deal with life and living beings in this way for a while and I suppose my usual perspective is not quite cut out for it.  I will adapt and find my way again so yes, I will be okay here Owen.  It is not as though this is permanent anyway.” Obi gives her a pointed look, she sighs, “Yet, it is not permanent yet.”

“Speaking of family.” Cliegg says, to side step what would no doubt have developed into an argument, before he gets up and holds his eldest son tightly.  “I am so sorry Obi, we all wanted him to come home.  I wish things did not go this way, for you or for him.” Obi, who had been shocked and confused to begin with, now buried his face into his Dad’s shoulder as sobs wrack his body.

“I killed him daddy.” Obi whispers in a small voice.

“Boys, how about we go visit the younglings in the creche?  I owe them a visit I think.” Arl suggests, Ani and Owen nod.

“I’ll come along too.” Shmi tells them, the four leave the other two to have their moment alone.

 

 

“Arl?” Jey-Sahl asks in a breathless whisper when she walks in before walking around the younglings at her feet and embracing her.  “I did not believe the whispers, I did not dare hope.”  Arl hugs her back.

“I am here Jey.”

“How did you two know?” She asks, which made no sense to Arl until she released the older Master and turned around to see Roland Pierro and Tillandaàr standing off to the side watching.

“I showed them.” Arl says, Tilli smiles.  Arl kneels down and opens her arms, both children run over and hug her, she lifts one up in each arm, holding them both over a hip each as she stands again.  “You two have grown so much.  I remember when we first met, you two were just toddlers.”

“That was only four years ago Forcey.” Arl smiles.

“For you perhaps dear one.” Tilli snuggles closer, “A lot of growing just since I last saw you.  Two years…”

“You got older too, in fact you got _old_.” Roland tells her, she laughs and smiles as she places both seven-year-olds back on the ground.

“I think I look pretty good for my age actually.”  He giggles, then they were overrun by a hoard of younglings wanting to know who this visitor is.

“Initiates, you remember Master Aa?” Penn introduces, most openly gape at her, others seem suspicious, a few sense the truth in her words and bow respectfully or simply hug her.

“The one we had a pyre for?  Yes, I remember her.” One initiate retorts, Jey-Sahl fixes her with a stare that was 100% done with this kid’s shit.

“Rastor, you have been told and reminded enough times that that tone is _not acceptable_ here.  You will address your elders with the respect they deserve or you will be ‘volunteering’ to help with the new initiates beginning meditation classes.” The initiate, Rastor, narrows her eyes at the creche master, arms crossed and a steely look in her eyes that reminds Arl of Ashoka Tano when she dug her metaphorical heels in.  Whether it was determination or just plain stubbornness is debatable at best.  Arl smiles slightly on the inside, it has been quite some time since she last thought of her brother’s Padawan.

“Perhaps you could explain how this happened.” Rastor replies though it was more of a demand than a request, Jey-Sahl openly glares at the child, the rest of the creche steels themselves in a way that Arl recognises means this happens often.  People used to do the same when it became clear she and Yoda were about to argue again in the other timeline.  An odd way of looking at things now for her but…still apt enough.

“Rassie, just stop now, okay?” Anakin asks, Arl was fairly certain this child was either his age or a year younger, definitely not any younger since she was clearly older than Roland and Tilli.

“I was only suggesting…” Jey-Sahl interrupts.

“No, you were not.  You were demanding and quite frankly I am sick of this behaviour Rastor.  It is not acceptable and you have been warned enough.”

“Going to threaten to go to Master Yoda or Master Windu again are you?”

“No.  It is no longer a threat.  Shmi, would you mind watching over the others while I deal with this?”

“Wait, Rastor, please.” Anakin begs his friend, she narrows her eyes at him for a moment before apparently seeing something since she bites her lip in frustration before turning to face Jey-Sahl, she takes a deep breath, obviously calming herself.

“Master Penn, I apologise for my behaviour, yet again.  I know it is not acceptable in the Order, but more importantly it was blatantly disrespectful and just plain rude.  You deserve more than that and not just because you are my elder and superior, but you are a kind person who looks after us not because it is your job but because you care.  I thank you for that and hope you can forgive me this slight…again.” Rastor says with a bow, she stays bowing until Jey-Sahl tells her to stand.

“If this happens again Initiate, no apology will stop me from getting the interference of the upper Masters.” Penn warns, Rastor nods, her gaze repentantly on the ground.  “I believe you should go meditate for a while.” Rastor nods, bows again and leaves the room to the provided meditation area in the creche itself.

It was about ten minutes later that Penn sent the initiates away after Arl answered many of their questions truthfully.  Anakin and Owen went off to play with the older initiates while Shmi and Arl sat down with Jey-Sahl.

“So, what was that with Initiate Rastor about?”  Arl asks, “I’m afraid I am unfamiliar with her, I thought I knew all the children in the creche.”

“Rastor arrived two weeks into your coma.  She was six at the time, found in an orphanage by Master Fisto along with your sister-padawan Asajj.  Your youngest brother and Rastor connected quickly since he had only been here a year and knew what it is like coming in so late.  She’s had a lot of issues, we do not actually know any of what happened to her prior to the orphanage, according to Asajj she had only been there a few months and had been found wandering in the snow alone.  We do not really know what to do, she won’t tell us anything, she behaves erratically.  One moment she will be warm and caring, the next…well…like you just saw.  It is hard to punish the behaviour when her apologies are genuine.  Yet I am the only one who never gets the warm side of her directed at personally.  We just cannot understand it, she saw a mind healer twice a week for the first month she was here but would never say a word during the sessions.”

“She is already advanced in the ways of the force.” Arl comments, Penn nods.

“She had unique training before coming here.  The entire orphanage and the village surrounding it did as well, they all say it had been that way since the orphanage was founded.”  An odd look passed over Arl’s face.  “What did you do?”  Arl smiles amusedly before it melted into her default smile of peaceful happiness.

“After I left the order to my Padawan, I went to Corellia and founded an orphanage.  I taught the children to use the force in passive ways.  Healing, general awareness, and foreknowledge.  Things that would help them in life and get past their less than ideal beginnings.” Arl explains.

“Why?” Roland asks, “Why start the orphanage I mean.” He clarifies, she smiles at him.

“They had no say in how their lives had gone up until that point, I wanted to help, after all, no one should have to be alone in times of crisis.”

“Isn’t that the point of our entire ord…oh.” Roland says as it slots into place, Jey-Sahl smiles at him.

“But why teach them the force?  Couldn’t that be dangerous given the emotional instability of those children?”  Shmi asks though she is impressed and proud of her daughter, she sends the feelings into the force knowing Arl would feel it, she gets a happy smile for her efforts.

“It gave them hope, gave them faith in something when they had none in themselves, it taught them there was something in this universe that they could trust and count on.  Sometimes that is all the stability kids can get, people in general actually.”

“Have hope for the future, have faith in yourself, have trust in the force.” Roland says mostly to himself as his eyes widen in realisation.  “For people with nothing, those things are everything aren’t they?”

“It is everything, and it gives them everything they learn that they need.”

“So why does Rastor have so much trouble?  Why doesn’t Asajj have trouble as well?” Arl ponders the question for a moment.

“Everyone is different Roland, especially in the way they react to situations.  When I first came to the order, I was much like Rastor is, angry, argumentative, flashed hot and cold on the smallest of triggers.  I thought myself right and refused to listen to others when they said anything otherwise.  I was disrespectful to my Master and I could not trust anything.  Not the force, not my Master, not even truly myself.  Meanwhile, Xanatos has been through terrible trauma, and he dealt with it by growing instead of being stunted by it.  Both are perfectly acceptable responses, as is everything in between, some healthier than others but none are wrong.  Rastor is having trouble accepting what has happened to her, both in the past and as things happen now. Asajj has already found that peace.   But for what it is worth, I doubt that she doesn’t also struggle, she has Masters that can help.  They dealt with me when I literally hated everything in existence and have dealt with traumatised children many times in the past.  Rastor will be okay, she just needs to find her feet and recognise the love and support surrounding her.”

“Why did you hate everything?  Why couldn’t you trust yourself?”

“Roland…” Jey-Sahl begins to interfere before Arl waves her off with a reassuring smile.

“When I first came back in time I had ‘fallen’, caught somewhere between light and dark.  Not sides of the force, I was well aware that they did not exist, but as a person.  I was angry at everything and I blamed everything and I hated everything for everything that had happened to me.” She tells him, he nods as he processes it, “As for not trusting myself, I made a decision once, one I have never forgiven myself for making and possibly never will.  I did not trust myself because I betrayed not only all of my friends and family but every promise I had ever made to myself and to others.  I did not trust myself because I had betrayed my own trust in making that decision, I have since come to accept my reasons for making that choice and learnt to trust myself again.  Largely thanks to the other timeline’s Mace Windu.  But I won’t ever fully reconcile it with myself, not until I forgive myself for making it.”

“Then why don’t you forgive yourself?” Tilli asks, ah the innocence of childhood, boy did Arl miss that.

“People suffered because of my decision and my reasoning for it was stupid.” She replies plainly, they cannot help but chuckle at both the description and the delivery.  “But it was a long time ago, I have grown since then.  In truth though, I cannot forgive myself until I know I would not make the same decision for the same reason again and I do not know that I am there yet.”

“Perhaps you should have faith in yourself, which in your case also means having trust in the force.” Roland tells her, there is a beat of silence before Arl chuckles bewilderedly, Penn smiles in amusement, Tilli outright laughs as does Shmi.

“Perhaps I should.”

“Well it is your code.”

“I didn’t write it, I did not write any of them.” She defends feeling ridiculous that she, the founder of the ‘Ice to a Hothian’ mode, is being verbally cornered by a seven-year-old.  Suddenly she understands her Master’s pain.

“Then who did?” Penn asks in surprise, Arl smiles.

“Well, a girl named Eran Pol created the Custos code, it’s really just a result of Ty, Quin, and I quoting her repeatedly.  Master Odun-Urr wrote the Jedi code, I’m not sure who exactly wrote the Sith code, only that it has been there longer than any of the others, it was that code being written that finally split the order 13’500 years ago.  I have a very strong suspicion it was Sorzus Syn that wrote it though.  I trained them both personally so I suppose you could blame me for the premise of them both but I still did not write them. I did write the original Jedi Code though.”  She is treated to many a confused look, well technically there are only four people but since she feels the confusion reverberated from the four through the force, it comes across strongly.

“What original?”

“Before Odan-Urr created one to be more easily understood, the Jedi Code was thus:

Emotion, yet peace.  
Ignorance, yet knowledge.  
Passion, yet serenity.  
Chaos, yet harmony.  
Death, yet the Force.”

“That’s the _exact opposite_ of what we have now.”

“Only if you choose to interpret it as such.  I’ve always seen the current Jedi code to be a matter of interpretation based upon an individual’s mindset and what they need to read from it.  The way the order developed denied people that opportunity.  In my view, there is no, something, there is something, is not denying the existence of the first thing but suggesting that the Jedi are supposed to master it in order to reach the other.”

“I feel like you should be having this conversation with scholars and philosophers, not seven-year-old initiates and a vaguely force-sensitive outsider.” Shmi tells her, they all chuckle.

“I find that the young and inexperienced are more open to new ideas and creative thinking than those comfortably stuck in their ways.”

 

 

 

Hours later, people begin coalescing for family dinner, since there just wasn’t enough room in their quarters anymore, Mic and Mace suggested they all go to the commissary and just bring their own food.  There were no objections and so they slowly rocked up.  Arl was running late though as she waited in the creche after the others left.

“Initiate Rastor.”

“Master Aa?” Rastor asks bowing in greeting. “I am surprised you are still here.”

“I was waiting for you actually.” She says after bowing in return.

“Me?  Why?”

“There is a dinner happening, completely informal, in the commissary with a group of order members and a few outsiders, I was wondering if you would care to join us?”  Rastor regards her suspiciously.

“Why?” Arl smiles placatingly

“Well for one, I think Ani would appreciate having someone his age besides Owen around for once.  And two, you seem like you could use a break from this place.”  The young girl seems hesitant, but one look around the room and she agrees.

 

“Arlie!” Mic calls happily when she enters the room, as if she couldn’t pick the group from a fucking mile away.  “Rastor right?” Rastor nods, “Well we weren’t expecting you but I’m glad you could join us, Moo Moo, grab another chair would ya?” Mace rolls his eyes.

“Yes dear, of course dear, whatever you say dear.” Mace replies dryly, Mic gives him an innocent grin.

“Why thank you.”

“So, when you said informal…” Rastor says quietly to Arl who smiles and chuckles.

“Rank is absolutely out the window and you are about to learn how insane everyone in this room is.”

“Thanks for the warning.” She drawls sarcastically, Arl winks to her and moves to take a seat, Rastor having been put between her and Anakin.

“Arl!” Karrya yells as she enters the room, immediately running over, “If it isn’t my favourite not-dead even though they should be person.”

“Hey!” Qui says indignantly.

“Nuh-uh, I’m still pissed at you.”

“I said I was sorry.” He whines.

“Sorry doesn’t bring back my chocolate Father…oh my gods.” Everyone looks to see what she is looking at, Dooku walking in slowly besides Xan who is walking.  Leaning heavily on crutches and with Dooku’s hand on his back but still putting one foot in front of the other.  Dooku was also pushing the empty wheelchair for when Xan’s legs inevitably give out from over-exertion.

“Well, that’s something I thought I’d never see again, you’re taller than me.” Garen exclaims.

“I am a tall person you ass.”

“Can we reduce the swearing please, kids around.  Not to mention the young children as well.” Arl says gesturing to Quin and Dooku for the first part before pointing to the three actual kids.

[Asshole.]

[You love me and you know it.] Arl signs back to Quin.

[So very far from the point.]

“So, who is coming that we couldn’t fit in your quarters?” Cliegg asks Mace.

“I believe Yoda was planning on attending now that being around Arlie is not a constant heartache, Clee should be here at some point, Reeft’s former Master, Binn Ibes is coming too.”

“Junie and her Padawan are coming.” Mic adds concludes.

“Bordo has a Padawan?” Arl asks, he nods.

“One of your old pet projects, Thelm Gart, she got reassigned from her old Master upon request.” Garen tells her, she hits him.

“They were not pet projects, they were friends and students.”

“ _Are_ friends.  Beauty of not being dead, you get to use current tenses.” The girl in question says as she and Junahl enter along with Tholme.

“I mean…not dead is a fairly loose and inaccurate description.”

“Whatever.” Thelm says as she hugs her friend. “You got old.”

“I look the age I was when I died!  Believe me, I do not look old unless I look my current age.”

“Hey, I have a question about that.” Owen says as those already here actually sit down instead of a sporadic few.

“Ask away little brother.”

“How can you only be 15’592 when you are literally in every time.”

“That age is just the years I have lived in this form or while actually alive.”

“Yes, that makes sense, thank you.” She nods to him.

 

A while later everyone has arrived and they start eating, an awkward silence setting over the table.

“So, when was the last time you all had one of these?” Arl asks curiously, sensing the odd atmosphere.

“It’s been a while.” Mic admits, “Was just before the body swap incident those three had so…about six months ago?”

“Yeah that sounds about right.” Bant says.

“So, Bellan and I have some news.” Reeft tells everyone, suddenly him random inviting his Master for the first time made sense.

“Yes, we are engaged.” Bellan tells everyone.

“Oh my gods!  That’s great!” Karrya tells them excitedly.

“Thanks Karr.”

“Congratulations, both of you.” Shmi tells them warmly.  Everyone follows suit, after that conversation seemed to flow as naturally at it always had, light and fun interspersed with arguments and more serious topics.

“How are you going to find this ‘other entity’?” Rastor asks curiously after the topic came up and the situation explained to those who did not know.

“Oh I have no kriffing clue, isn’t that exciting?  It’s been a while since I’ve had a mystery I can’t instantaneously solve.” Arl replies.

“What about earlier today when you couldn’t work out why Reeft dreamed of the other timeline?” Garen asks her, Bant is the one who answers though.

“It’s still very likely those two are connected.”

[I think Maul should be the priority find for now, he’s something substantial that we can actually deal with and there is no point finding this other entity until we have the device to deal with it.] Quin signs.

“[We’d have to find him first, besides, like you said he’s something substantial, our only tangible link to this other entity.  We mustn’t lose that connection until we are certain we don’t need it.]” Dooku tells him, speaking aloud too.

[He’s dangerous.]

“[You just don’t like him because he tortured you]” Dooku says as though that were an immature thing.

[No, I don’t like him because he tortured you and Arlie]

[Now I am just worried about your lack of self-preservation.]

[My bigger worry is the vengeance he seems to want.] Arl adds.

[You say vengeance, I say justice…no it’s vengeance, bastard deserves it though.]

[That’s not the Jedi way Quinlan.] Dooku chastises.

[Coming from the Jedi that joined the Sith.  Neither one of you is in a position to judge how I Jedi.]

[I made the entire kriffing order!]

[Yes, and it broke, it continued breaking for thousands of years, I don’t know that you could have fucked that up more.]

[I’ll thank you to remember that I also saved it again.]

[You hadn’t made it yet!]

[Exactly!]

[What are you even saying anymore!]

[I don’t know!]

“[You are both idiots.]” Dooku tells them, those that could not speak sign language were very confused, those that could were very amused.

“[Wasn’t there something about you three going a week without arguing?]” Terza asks.

“[We went a year.]”

“[Arl was in a coma that doesn’t count, besides, I seem to remember you both having one-sided arguments with her in frustration at her not waking.]”

“[Plus, you both ranted to me several times about each other.]” Arl reminds them.

“[You could hear us?]”

“[Yep, but it was well over 15’000 years ago, it’s not exactly a crystal clear time memory wise, given that most of my focus was spent clinging to life.]”

[Fair enough.  Okay, week restarting then, we are bloody well going to do this.] Quin interrupts, they both nod.

“Speaking of things that were previously agreed upon prior to mind control, stabbing, coma, death and over 15’000 years, I do believe you owe me a sparring match.” Obi-Wan says, everyone looks far more interested.

“She has 15’549 years more experience than she had before Little Obi, and you had slim chances of beating her then.” Aayla tells him, he pokes her tongue out at her.

“Revered Jedi/Sith Master, poking his tongue out for revenge.” Rastor comments amusedly, “If the order and the senate could see you now.”

“Arl once told the galactic senate to go kriff themselves, me poking my tongue out at a friend being annoying is hardly on the list of things we shouldn’t but we do anyway.”

“Other timeline doesn’t count.”

“It so very much does.  For instance, one should not bash the grand-master of the order in the head with his own gimmer stick when one doesn’t get their way.”

“Oh the little troll deserved it all three times.” Arl defends, “Love you dear Padawan.” She says to Yoda who grumbles.

“Having heard the stories behind each one, other-Yoda kind of did.” Garen says.

“What about that time you got a blow up hammer and threatened your Padawan with it?” Arl asks.

“He hid. My tea.”

“Did I have a death wish in the other timeline?” Anakin asks with wide eyes, Obi chuckles.

“No, it was revenge.”

“For Jedi, you are a vengeful bunch.” Cliegg tells them with a laugh as Anakin asks, “Revenge for what?”

“I painted your nails while you were asleep the night before you were supposed to have lunch with Padmè.” The table laughs.

“Why would you do that?” Ani asks indignantly.

“You were being a brat, teasing me about an old friend of mine you were convinced I’d been involved with.”

“Were you?”

“None of your business you brat.”

“That answers that question.”

“Oh shut it Owen.”

“Make me Little Obi.”

“Children!” Shmi calls.

“Sorry Mum.” They both say, Arl sniggers behind her hand, the only thing keeping her from losing her shit all together.

“Better than the time you had a formal meeting with the Chancellor while wearing a tutu.” Arl says to Anakin whose face grows horrified.

“Why would I have _ever_ done that?”

“Because Garen dared you to and I said you wouldn’t go through with it.  I meant it as a compliment, you took it as a challenge.” Arl explains.

“That was when Yoda banned you from the political side of things and the council agreed you and Garen had to do the same punishment I gave Anakin.”  Obi remembers with a smile.

“You smile now, you were absolutely livid at the time.  You controlled it well but your eyebrow was twitching as the situation was explained to you.”

“You paint my nails before I go see my wife, you threaten me with a blow up hammer, but a tutu is where you draw the line?”  Anakin asks confused.

“It was a _formal_ meeting with _the Chancellor_.  Plus it was before the war, I let you get away with more during it because it relieved stress and you acted like a twat in the field less.”

“Why was I having a formal meeting with the Chancellor while still a Padawan?”

“If I remember correctly it was the punishment Master Poof gave you after you blew up one of the Order’s speeders.  Completely by accident, don’t see why there was any punishment needed.” Obi mutters the last part, Arl rolls her eyes.

“Because it was the fifth one you two had gone through inside of four months.”

“Accidents! All of them!”

“We couldn’t just let it go, something had to be done officially to protect us politically and to set an example to the rest of the order and wrecking speeders is not okay.  Besides do you know how many credits you two cost us with your ‘accidents’?” Arl asks, Obi thinks about it.

“A few thousand?”

“Half a million.”

“Damn!” Obi exclaims in surprise.

“Yes but, you know, accidents happen.” Arl says sarcastically.

“I shall endeavour to not crash speeders, or blow up judicial ships.” Obi promises only half joking, Arl rubs her forehead.

“Honestly a large portion of that was paying off two senators after the incident on Ryloth.”  Obi cringes.

“That one wasn’t my fault.”

“How many times did we tell you to control your Padawan?”

“How many times did you all fail to as well?”

“You said you would train him with or without council permission, that made him more your responsibility than most master/padawan pairs.”

“Well if the council hadn’t been so insistent on him not being trained…”

“If either you or your Master had listened to the council…”

“I did!  I agreed with you!  I told Master Qui-Gon as such too, it did not go down well.  Besides, if the council hadn’t decided that he was ‘too dangerous’ because he was afraid and actually talked to him…”

“Obi-Wan!  We had a point, he turned out exactly how we knew he would.  Rash, arrogant, uncontrollable and angry.”

“They said he would fall to the dark-side!”

“He did!  Or have you forgotten Mortis?  That wasn’t Wrath, that was _his_ reaction to the future he saw.” Obi flinches back.

“What?  No, the son corrupted him Arl.”

“No Obi, he just showed him the future we then lived.  His goal of destroying the Jedi after that was how he wanted to prevent it. He chose that himself.”  Silence fell, “If we’d just found him at the same age he joined this time, things might have been different.”

“Our lives are fucked.” Obi says after a long moment of silence.

“Yep.  And also, I wasn’t even on the council at that point or I’d have fought beside you!” Arl suddenly remembers.

“Oh yeah, you were busy being resold into slavery and getting megally pissed at Garen for reasons I still do not know.”

“Never gonna forgive him for getting us sold, seriously.  I was angry because for all intents and purposes, I was MIA, finally make my way back hours later and walk in on him making out with Breha Organa.”

“Ouch.” Obi says, she nods.

“Yep.  Partner goes missing, let’s make out with the princess that got us partially into this mess to begin with!  Asshole.” Arl grumbles, Obi laughs.

“Oh your problem was not that he made out with her while you were missing, it was that he did at all.”

“Shut up Obi!”

“Poor lil Arlie.”

“Imma throw this fork at you in a second Kenobi.”

“Your aim is terrible Arl, you’d end up hitting yourself somehow.”

“Yeah…somehow, despite my amazing and way better than yours fighting skills, I cannot throw for shit.”

“You guys are so weird.” Rastor tells them, all laugh and agree including the two in question.

Rastor looked around the table and decided the temple might not be so bad after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 

“Has anyone seen Arlie today?”  Garen asks as he walks into the council chamber.

“No, sorry Schlau.” Mic replies, everyone else shakes their heads. “I thought she was staying in your empty Padawan room?”

“She will be but she was doing something last night, left a few hours after dinner and I haven’t seen her since.” He explains as he takes his seat.

“Track time well she does not, realise how long it is she has been gone I doubt she does.  Come back she will, patience we must have.”  Yoda tells them all, Xan smiles.

“She disappear a lot while you were growing up?”  Yoda has never been overly forthcoming with stories of his childhood, now they knew why and as such he was a lot more open.

“Hmm, when young I was there she would be, but grow up I did and be gone longer she would.”

“It makes sense really.” Qui tells them earning all eyes on him, save for Mace who was not listening in the slightest.

“How so?”

“Well, she couldn’t very well leave a youngling without a guardian, perhaps that meant she neglected things she, as the force, should have been doing.” 

“Coruscant to Windu.” Aayla says waving a hand around in his direction, he blinks and looks up.

“Sorry, yes?”

“Are you all right Master?”

“Yes of course Aayla.” He says with a smile, she narrows her eyes unconvinced.

“Where is your Padawan?” He turns around surprised, sure enough, no Asajj.

“Mic…”

“Mace, we had this discussion this morning, remember?” Mic asks carefully, Mace seems to shake off the confusion.

“Yes, she’s with Ani and Owen sparring this morning.  Sorry, I forgot.”

[We can’t let Arl neglect things again.]

“[Sure we can Quin.  If it means she stays with us.]” Dooku replies bewildered.

“It’s not the Jedi way.” Mace tells him.

“Well then it’s a bloody good thing we aren’t all Jedi.” Dooku retorts.

“We can’t put ourselves in front of…”

“Like kriffing hell we can’t, we’re her family, she should be here with us.”

“We aren’t any more important than the rest of the universe Tyranus!”

“We aren’t any less important either Mace!”

“Okay I can solve this right now.  Yesterday Arl said she couldn’t stay while the other entity is around because it makes her vulnerable but that she would stop in when we need.  She told Obi she’d consider staying permanently once the Entity is dealt with, in what capacity?  Well that’s a discussion to be had with her later.” Garen tells them all, they stop arguing.  “Now, can we get on with our jobs instead of arguing like younglings?” Garen requests, they agree and so conversation turns to boring temple business and politics and the like.

 

Then Mace’s comm chimes an hour later.

“Windu.”

“Master Windu, Chancellor Valorum is requesting entry to the chamber.” Bellan’s voice comes through.

[And we’ve still got her Padawan granting ceremony.] Quin adds.

“Let him in Healer, we’ll just be another few minutes before your ceremony, I hope.”  A second later the door opens and Valorum walks in.

“I am hearing some rather distressing and ridiculous rumours about this Order ladies, gentlemen, and variations there upon.  I would like an explanation as to why I have not been kept up to date as well as some damned answers.” He says angrily, they seem surprised at the display before his eyes fill with barely concealed hope, “It’s just a rumour right, Arl isn’t…I mean she’s not…she’s dead right?”

[Yes, she is.  But the rumours are partially true.]

“[Explain.]”

[She died, she hasn’t come back to life so much as taken on a form we can perceive and one she likes, as such she is the fifty-four-ish version of herself.  She is the literal force.  She also went back in time and created the entire order, oh and raised and trained Yoda.]

“Her only Padawan I am not.” Yoda grumbles.

[Semantics.]

[Important they are.]

[The semantics or the other Padawans?]

[Yes.]

[Fair enough.]

“Can we not digress for once please?!  Someone catch me the hell up!”

“Both Sheev and Cosinga Palpatine are dead, Arl is back though we do not yet know in what capacity that will be.  I died, Arl brought me back to life.  Xan’s legs work again and Quin may or may not be able to get his hearing back.” Qui-Gon tells his friend. “Oh, and Bellan and Reeft are engaged.”

“Oh really? That’s fantastic, I shall have to extend my congratulations when we are done here.” Finis replies before shaking his head in bewilderment at his own words, “Why is it that in my life I have reached a point of accepting the rest of it and immediately moving on?”

“Too much time spent with us.” Garen supplies, Quin shakes his head.

[Too much time with Arlie.]

“So, Wrath is dead.  What do we do now?  I assume something else is happening since we cannot catch a break.” They look a little surprised, not by his words but by his wish to be involved. “I realise I only got involved because of the Dark Sith in the Senate and the changes you all wanted to make in the order but, what you have created here is important to me.  Besides, I spent the last three and a half years on this, I’m not out until it’s done.”

[We should wait for Arlie, do Bellan’s ceremony.  Put together the team that will be working on this and go from there, have everyone know everything from the beginning this time.  Maybe then it won’t take over 15’000 years.]

“Agreed.” Mace says.

“Acceptable.” Valorum says going and opening the door for the two people waiting on the other side of it.

“Bellan, Danvire, please come in.” Plo tells them, they could tell he was smiling on the other side of his mask.

 

“Ren!” Anakin calls when they finally leave the chamber, “It’s happening.  They’re doing warm ups!”

“Ani what are talking about?” Garen asks, the boy was all but vibrating in excitement.

“Owen told me to come get you and…well…everyone.  Asajj went to get the others, Arl and Obi, they’re gonna fight!  Come one come on come on.”

“Why didn’t he send you to get me?” Qui asks with a pout as they all follow the child.

“I don’t think he enjoys you seeing what a lifetime of war and hiding and Sith and stuff has done to him.”

“Dark Sith Ani.” Qui reminds.

“No, I meant what I said.  You think everything that has happened hasn’t had an effect?  He’s been traumatized Master, Good Sith or Bad Sith, doesn’t change past trauma.  Especially with Dooku since he actually dealt with him.”

“And what makes you think this?”

“Apart from everything I know about mental health and all my observations, I once said I was going to help Tyranus and he had a panic attack.”

“Well that’s lovely.” Dooku grumbles behind him.

“I mean, to be fair, you tortured him several times and generally made his life hell.  That kinda thing doesn’t go away just because it hasn’t happened yet.” Anakin says darkly.

“Ani?” Qui asks worriedly, Anakin blinks and snaps out of it, smiling up at his Master.

“Come on, we’re dawdling, I don’t want to miss this.  Karr is gonna be there too.” He says grabbing both Qui and Dooku by the hand to drag them along, all hesitation and whatever else there was about Dooku gone, while encouraging the others to move quicker. “Congratulations Danvi by the way, and you Bells.”

“Thanks Skywalker.”

“Thanks Ani.”

They walk into the salle to find Obi and Arl sitting cross-legged in front of each other with serious expressions on their faces as Obi counts something out on his fingers.

“No cutting me off from the force.” He says putting up a fourth finger. “No Paralysing me through the force, temporary or otherwise.” He says raising a fifth finger.

“If I had known there would be a whole contract I would not have agreed to this.” Arl complains.

“Gods you are here.” Finis says when he sees her, she looks up with a blinding smile.

“If it isn’t my favourite Chancellor.” She says walking over and bowing before being surprised when he hugs her, she hugs him back.

“I mean the other option was a crazy Dark Sith.” Owen says as he and his group enter the room and crowd around.

“Kid I have been around since the Republic was created.”

“You didn’t start that too, did you?”

“No Owen I did not start the Republic, I’d never make anything that f…antastic.” She says with an awkward look to the man who she had just been hugging, he had an amused look on his face.

“I DIDN’T MISS IT, DID I?!” Asajj yells as she enters from the other side of the room and sprints over.

“No Asi, we haven’t gotten past him banning me from doing anything including breathing during the match.” Arl replies with a pointed look in his direction, Obi rolls his eyes.

“YOUR DEAD! YOU DON’T EVEN NEED TO BREATHE!”

“I DO IF I WANT TO KEEP THIS FORM…oh…actually you’re right, I don’t.” She realises, he rolls his eyes.

“I was so worried I’d miss it.” Asajj adds before Obi could yell at Arl again.

“What were you even doing?” Owen asks.

“I got caught up talking to Barriss.”

“Barriss Offee?” Arl asks, her voice low and eyes angry, Obi-Wan grabs her arm and pulls her back a little so that she could see him shake his head.

“Hasn’t happen, won’t happen.”

“Oh, it won’t?  It happened because the order lost its way, what’s to stop her from thinking the same. Damned. Thing. Now?”

“We are.  You think I haven’t thought of that?  I’ve gone through the list and made sure all is well.”

“What list?” Mic asks, Arl and Obi exchange guilty looks.

“Nothing.” They both say simultaneously.

“That was about as believable as when Garen lied about the creche explosion six years ago.”

“I was plenty believable.”

“Yeah which is why no one believed you, that makes sense, totally.”

“Let’s just get on with the match before someone gets stabbed again, okay?” Terza requests, only then do people realise she has an entire medkit with her.

“Nice.” Arl says with a wide and amused smile on her face as others laugh, Xan grumbles about being laughed at.

“You guys have some serious issues.” Tholme tells them all, no one could really disagree. “How do you plan on sparring when you have no lightsaber?”

“I retrieved mine while I was out last night.  Lasted me 300 years, I think they’ll last one sparring session with a youngling.” Arl says with a smirk at Obi as she pulls two lightsabers from her boots.

“You use two now?  You know I remember a time when you flat out refused to touch even one.”

“Weapons are enemies even to their owners.”

“Where did you even get that?  It sounds like you are quoting something every time you say it.”

“A movie from Earth, I loved it so much as a child.  They had a code in the movie, one I strived to live by.”

“What was it?” Asajj asks curiously.

“Sow Good Seed.” She replies, the girl looks confused, mirrored on everyone’s faces, Arl smiles. “It’s an acronym, it stands for,

 **S** urvival of all or none.  
**O** ne raindrop raises the sea.  
**W** eapons are enemies, even to their owners.  
  
**G** ive more, take less.  
**O** thers first, self last.  
**O** bserve, listen, and learn.  
**D** o one thing at a time.  
  
**S** ing every day.  
**E** xercise imagination.  
**E** at to live, don't live to eat.  
**D** on't put out the light.”

“Huh, and I thought our codes were weird.”

“Ani!” Obi admonishes.

“Sorry Master.”

“Do those ‘sabers still work?  I mean how long has it been since you last used them?” Tholme asks getting back on topic.

“Eight…hundred and something years…so, let’s find out.” Arl says stepping away from people and igniting them both, they were one was white and one was the same purple as Mace’s. “Half works.” She says before igniting the other side of them, everyone was surprised to see that both of her lightsabers were staffs like Maul’s.  The bottom half being the same colour as the top half on both of them.

“Okay hell no, that’s banned too.” Obi declares. “One against four is not fair.”

“Obi how many times did you fight General Grievous? He had four _limbs_ and four _separate_ _‘sabers_ and you beat him…eventually.”

“We have the same kind of grip and all are set to training level anyway so it won’t be any weaker.” Anakin says as he offers Obi-Wan his lightsaber, Obi looks touched by the gesture and accepts with a traditional bow.

“Thank you for the use of your weapon.” Anakin laughs.

“Just take it Master.”

“Way to ruin a moment.”

“What are brothers for.”

“Open spar, no rules in the usual context of no rules, cheating only to a point and we will be the jury on what goes too far.” Mace tells them.

“So cheating is okay Master?” Asajj asks with an innocent look on her face, no one but Mace and Mic seemed to understand since Mace pinches the bridge of his nose as Mic laughs hard enough that he loses his balance and falls over.

“Why do I get the feeling that there is no safe way to respond to that?” Qui asks, Mic laughs harder as Mace rubs a hand over his face.

“Because there isn’t, either I cheated and I won, or we both cheated and I still won.”

“Why are either of you cheating anyway?” Arl asks disapprovingly.

“Ha, I forgot about haha that.” Mic says from the floor.

“Arl has a very serious thing about cheating.” Qui explains for Asajj who looks confused.

“What’s the point of playing a game you know you will win?” Arl says defensively.

“Sure works for politicians when they blackmail each other. Or kill people who disagree with them.” Obi mutters.

“I didn’t cheat anyway, I did something he felt were against the rules but it was not banned.” Asajj replies.

“She found a loophole, he’s a sore loser and trying to get her to stop finding ways around things every now and then so that she learns to deal with situations when she can’t do that.  So either he lied which _is_ cheating and she won or he admits now that it was okay and she still wins.” Mic explains.

“What about it not being okay in any scenario?” Dooku suggests offhandedly as he grabs Arl’s lightsaber to look over it out of curiosity, she rolls her eyes but allows it.

“Then he voids three sparring matches that I would have won.” Asajj replies.

“So, you win, you win, or he loses.”

“Exactly.”

“ _Or_ , they are adults and knighted and can make their own decisions about right and wrong while you still have to listen to me.”

“Arlie never would have. ‘Arl would have stood up for what she believes was the right decision, regardless of titles and propriety.’” Asajj quotes.

“Remember what I said after that, ‘You are much better behaved’?” Mace asks, she smirks, “Oops.”

“Yes, and I believe it was ‘You are much better behaved so if you play it right, you’ll get away with more’.”

“What?” Arl asks her Master with a laugh, Mace buries his face into his hand as Mic rolls on the floor laughing.

“That only counts in games against Mic.”

“And he says the rules about loopholes not being accepted don’t count when playing against you.”

“This is why we stopped games night.” Mace mutters.

“No that was because someone broke the cooler and still hasn’t admitted to it.” Asajj says looking pointedly at both Masters.

“Wasn’t me.” Mace says at the same time Mic says, “Wa-he-sn’t mehehehe.”

“Never play shadow assassination with these two.” Asajj tells everyone who is in varying states of amusement.

“Oh I love that game!” Arl comments with a happy smile.

“We should all play sometime.” Owen suggests.

“Did I not just say never play it with those two?”

“If they had been the ones to break the cooler we wouldn’t.” Arl says with a smirk, Mace and Mic exchange shocked looks before turning them on their Padawan who looks confused for a second before it drops away to a self-satisfied smirk.

“Really Arlie?  I had them pitted against each other for six months!” Both men’s eyes widen as Mic gets off the ground at last.

“But you were in the other room!” Mace exclaims.

“Being in the other room would have been cheating Master, and I don’t cheat.” She tells him, Mic blinks slowly like he was still catching up.

“But then why get yourself in trouble for cheating if you didn’t?” He asks befuddled.

“Less trouble than I’m about to be in for the cooler.”

“Yes but then you add on the lying, and everything else, you’re in more trouble now than you would have been in the first place.”

“Ah, but, this is six months later.” She says.

“So?” Mace asks, she gives him a patient smile.

“So I am no longer afraid you guys will ditch me if I am too much trouble.  I was sold by my clan into slavery Masters, then in an orphanage, it was a concern of mine.  But six months has given me time to get over it.  I was always planning on owning up eventually, actually in a few weeks.”

“Why a few weeks?”

“That’s when the old cooler will be fixed.” Anakin adds earning confused looks.

“I went to Ani for help afterwards, you two were upset because the cooler had been decorated by every Padawan you guys had had.  So I got Ani to help me fix it and I was going to give it back to you and tell you everything on your anniversary three weeks from now.”  Mace and Mic exchange looks before pulling her into a hug.

“You’re still in trouble you know.” Mic says after a long moment.

“Good.” She replies, which doesn’t make sense to them…until it does.

“So, shall we spar?” Arl asks Obi who nods, she grabs the lightsaber back from Dooku as Obi grabs Anakin’s and they get into position.

“Begin.” Dooku calls.

“Wait!” Xanatos says loudly, everyone turns to him in total panic, not again not again not aga…what?  He’s looking at Mace in concern, as is Mic.  “Mace?”

“I-uh, what?  Sorry, yes Xanatos?” He asks blinking away the dazedness, he turns his head quickly back to the spot he was looking before, “What the hell.” He mutters.

“Master?” Asajj, Arl, Garen, and Depa all ask worriedly.

“It-I, uh…I don’t…you guys can’t?  Um, Terza, I think we may need that medkit after all.” He says as he looks with wide, surprised and scared and confused, eyes in the same spot…or not, his eyes flitting back and forth as though watching something play out, everyone looks at him and at where he is looking, no one sees anything.

“What’s going on?” Terza asks walking over to him, putting the kit on the ground and opening it.

“I-I think, um, I’m hallucinating.” He finally says still not looking away from the spot, then he suddenly looks at the far door in confusion, his eyes moving as though tracking someone walking, then his eyes are back to the same spot.

Terza walks him backwards to the bench at the wall and sits him down, everyone else sits on the round, leans on a wall or in Xan’s case, wheels closer.  They attempt to sit like they were all just chatting casually while still being close enough to hear what was happening.  Terza uses the force to scan his head when his eyes suddenly flit to the ceiling in surprise.

“What the fuck?” He says in response to what he was seeing, then his eyes return to the spot again.

“I can’t find anything wrong with you.” Terza says pulling a pen light out of the kit and looking in his eyes. “I could use some force assistance over here.” Arl gets up from the floor and kneels in front of Mace, closing her eyes as she sits back on her heels.  It looks like she is trancing down but her body starts wavering in solidity, becoming see through in some places before solidifying.  Whatever she was doing, it was not in her human form.

“Nor can I.” She says quietly without expression of the vocal nor facial kind.  As her form solidifies, her facial expression morphs to concern, if Asajj were not so worried for her Master, she may have found such things fascinating.  As it is, she files it away for later dissecting and focuses her attention on the here and now.

“They’re gone…wait…it’s stopped.” He says blinking away…whatever it was and focusing on them again, “What the hell just happened?”

“You tell us, what were you seeing?” Arl asks looking directly into her Masters eyes, though it looked more like she was searching in them.

“You, me, Dooku.  Then Mic and Garen too.” Dooku raises an eyebrow, “You and I were sparring and then Dooku walked up and then Mic was yelling and Garen was on the ceiling and I don’t even know.  But then Mic ran out and then we all left and then it was over.” Arl’s eyes widen slightly.

“Was Mic yelling about anything in particular?” Arl asks carefully, Mace focuses down at her in confusion.

“Caff, Garen had…”

“Drunken all of his caff.”

“I don’t like Caff.” Garen comments, she smiles ruefully.

“You did in the other timeline.” All eyes look to her.

“That was the second time I ever met Dooku, Garen was hopped up on _all_ of Mic’s caff and climbing on the ceiling.  Mic came in here yelling for him, I believe he threatened to cut off his braid at some point.  Garen only came down when Mic threatened to ban him from Caff all together.” Arl explains.

“I was too far, I could only hear Mic and Garen’s yelling but…yes.” Mace tells her, “Arlie why am I hallucinating the other timeline?”

“I don’t know, but I am going to figure it out, don’t worry.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with Reeft dreaming of the other timeline?” Bellan ask worriedly as she hugs her new Padawan, Danvire holds his new Master in return.

“One would assume so, though I do try not to work on assumptions.  Still, if it isn’t then it’s one hell of a coincidence and I tend to believe them even less.” Arl explains.

“Other people are remembering too?” Anakin asks in a quiet and fearful voice, Arl freezes, her eyes widen, as do Obi’s, they both turn to look at the boy.

“You remember it?” Arl whispers terrified.

“No, not really just…sometimes I remember things, only they haven’t happened.  Then you told me that I had been V-Vader in the other timeline and I realised what was happening.” He says still quiet.

“Is that why you had a full blown blackout level panic attack when you walked into the council chamber yesterday?” Owen asks earning looks of surprise and confusion.

“I uh, cut myself off from the force so that no one would feel it but, Owen can tell.” Ani mutters dejectedly.  “I thought maybe I’d gotten away with that one.”

“I was just waiting for things to settle a bit before asking about it.” Owen tells his younger brother.

“Why would memories of the other timeline make you have a panic attack in the council chamber?” Asajj asks, Arl looks heartbrokenly at her brother who won’t meet her eyes.

“Because that’s where I killed them.” He whispers, “That’s where I slaughtered the children.  Everything else I’ve remembered is miscellaneous stuff, stuff that I only really get reminded of in Anarch’s quarters.”

“It wasn’t you Ani.” Arl reminds him as she moves to hug him, he sobs into her shoulder.

“Yes, it was, I remember it.  I remember it as much as I remember this timeline, it _happened_.”

“What happened then is not important Anakin, it’s been undone and it was not this version of you anyway.  What is important is what is happening now.  One person having a dream, one person regaining memories, and another now hallucinating.” Finis tells the boy as he calms, Anakin looks at him and sees the truth in his eyes, the lack of hate and judgement in everyone else’s and nods, taking a breath to calm himself.

“Dreams actually, I had another one last night, it was the same situation except all I dreamed was the comm call I had with Arl, I didn’t dream that last time.” Reeft tells them while looking at his feet and picking at his tunics.

“What comm call?” Obi-Wan asks Arl in a demanding voice.

“I lied, when I said Bly had told me everything.  I also left out a lot of what I knew.  It didn’t matter in the end.  They were still dead.” She says in a clipped tone.

“Arl…I am…” Reeft begins to say but Arl cuts him off with a dismissing wave and a smile.

“I meant it Reeft, when I said I knew.  Besides, it was not you.” He looks up at her, sees the sincerity in her eyes and smiles with a nod.

“Skywalker, you and I are going to have a long conversation later, for now what is going on?” Obi asks while glaring at Arl.

“I have no idea.” She tells him honestly.

“You are the force, how can you not know.”

“If I knew that I would probably know what was happening too.  This should not be happening, the last thing I have ever wanted is everyone remembering.”  Asajj silently wonders if that simple truth was more related than Arl seemed to believe.

“Whatever is happening, I think it is happening again.” Mic says looking at his lifemate who is looking at a different spot in the salle.

“You never mentioned that we didn’t get along.” Mace whispers brokenly, eyes tracking someone leaving the room before going back to looking at the spot, then tracking someone else walking out the other door and then looking at Arl.

“We had a rocky beginning, things got better after we had a big fight in…here actually.” She says looking around, then at the spot he was looking at before looking back at him. “Oh…”

“What do you want from me?” He asks carefully, she nods, “Thank gods.”

“What?” She asks in angry disbelief.

“If it weren’t that fight that means there was one that was worse.”

“There was, you stopped speaking to me for a while because I sent your husband to war while you were gone, ignoring, purposely or otherwise, that I sent everyone else to war as well.”

“This is getting off topic.” Mace groans, putting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

“What could be causing this?” Qui-Gon asks.

“I don’t know!” Arl exclaims, then she takes a deep breath and calms herself, or tries to at least.  “Okay everyone needs to calm down I can’t think when you’re all shoving fear and nervousness and confusion and uncertainty and resentment into me.”  Everyone seems a little shocked at the admission, still they hold in their emotions as best they can and Arl’s head clears, she runs through possibilities and scenarios in her head.

“Arl, I don’t mean to rush you but the majority of people here are Jedi or Custos, they don’t keep emotions well.” Garen reminds her, she notices the expressions on the faces around her that are not Sith and nods, closing her eyes and focusing.  Soon enough her thoughts coalesce into one strand and she frowns thoughtfully, reopening her eyes.

“You can release them now.”  She felt immense fear and uncertainty for a moment, enough to make her suck in a breath and begin to panic before it levelled off to the usual again. “I’m okay.” She assures Garen and Xan who had moved to her, the former grabbing her arm and the latter putting a hand just above her knee on the side. “Three years from now in the other timeline Dooku told me he’d found reference to another, I don’t remember where though and he did not tell me more, one of us got called away, I don’t remember why.”

“Possible reference that you can remember nothing about?” Tholme asks, Arl rolls her eyes.

“I remember where, when, and who for how to find out.  I’ll go to the other timeline in that moment and ask Dooku himself.”

“I’ll come with you.” Garen says, Arl raises an eyebrow.

“Schlau you’re a Sith.”

“So are Anarch and Tyranus, they’ve been here almost as long as you have.” Garen retorts.

“Hey!” Both men call indignantly, they were not _that_ old.

“Arch and Ty have years of practice hiding, you have no experience.”

“Well someone should go with you.”

“Why? That’s a terrible idea!”

“You said you have trouble finding your way back sometimes if you go too far out, if one of us is with you it will be easy, you just find the place where the person _should_ be.” Arl thinks about it intently, biting her lip as she does so, Garen may be concerned about the old habits resurgence but it was also adorable.

(No, bad Sith, not the time.) He tells himself harshly, then internally chuckles, (Bad Sith?  Idiot.)

“Dead, Dead, dead, dead, not here, also not here, out of temple, out of temple, out of temple, makes him uncomfortable, never gonna say a damn word.” Arl says pointing to first Qui, then Xan, then Mic, then Tahl, then Owen, then Asajj, then Quinlan, Aayla and Tholme, then Anakin, she points to all members of the old council and Valorum on the last point. “So pick, Bells, Reeft, Danvi, Bant, or Siri.”

“No offense to you Danvire but, we cannot allow a Padawan to go.” Adi says almost immediately.

“Master Gallia, I just want to be a mind-healer, I am perfectly fine not being in the running for a trip through time to speak with someone who may or may not already be a Dark Sith.” He tells her.

“That’s a good point actually, so no to Bellan as well.  Sorry Healer, you just aren’t the best fighter or liar.” Tholme says when she looks offended.

“I honestly don’t see how that’s a bad thing.” She replies.

“I’m really more research girl than field work.” Bant admits.

“Takes courage and wisdom to admit that Bant.  I believe I should go, if we are to blend in you need someone adept at doing so, and someone who can protect themselves against crazy Dark Sith’s should the need arise, who better than a Shadow?” Siri tells them, none disagree so Arl nods.

“Perhaps you should all go to the meeting room or something in the meantime?” Arl suggests, they nod and leave.

“Let’s do this.” Siri tells her while hiding much of her force presence and pushing her old Jedi training to the forefront, the result was not exactly right but Dooku never spent enough time with her to be able to tell, not by that point anyway.

“We are here.” Siri opens her eyes, not sure when she had closed them, and sees the training salle.  She’s about to comment on them not moving when she really looks and sees the differences in whose there and slight changes in the room itself, looking over herself, she sees she has changed too.

“Wizard.”


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 

“Wizard.” She says pulling at her now far longer hair.

“We should get going, remember we have to blend and avoid being seen as much as possible.”

“Yes Arl, I do know how to do this.”

“Oh and, you and I are not particularly close so…I don’t know if that will be important but I figure you should probably be aware that should someone start talking to you about stuff going on with other you right now, I can fill in no gaps.”

“Got it.”

“Then off we go, he should be in the archives.” The two leave the salle and take the shortest route to the archives while sticking to the wall and attempting to be as unobtrusive as possible. 

Somehow, they make it with no interruptions, Arl sees Dooku who is still sitting with her at one of the tables, Siri and Arl duck into the rows of shelves waiting for one of the two to leave.

“And you’ve no idea which of them is going to leave?” Siri asks, Arl smiles at her in the patient way she does everyone, it was really beginning to grate on Siri’s nerves but, if she were the force, she’d probably look that way to people as well.  She supposed that everyone was just a naïve floundering youngling with no true direction or purpose to speak of.

“No I do not.  It was a very long time ago and my memory was terrible to begin with.”

“You say that yet you remember battalions and squadrons, mission reports, and all sorts from the other timeline, or well, this timeline technically.” Siri replies gesturing around them.

“Mostly from the war when forgetting would mean the deaths of thousands or more people.”

“Fair enough.”

“You’re wrong you know.” Siri looks at her in confusion despite Arl not facing her.

“About what?” Siri asks leaning on the shelves with her arms crossed and looking at the other girl questioningly, Arl continues watching her other-self and Dooku.

“You are not naïve nor direction or purposeless.  Just because one cannot see their purpose does not mean one does not have one.  A direction is just the way someone is heading, everyone has that, the trouble is being the thing to decide your direction, but you mastered that art long ago Siri Tachi.  You make your own decisions and you force other people to as well, that is your purpose.  You make other people take control of their own lives and the choices they make, you make them responsible for their decisions and the consequences.  You have no idea how bad it gets when the Jedi of all people fail to do so.” She raises an eyebrow at the back of the girl’s head, Arl finally turns to look at her with a slightly sheepish smile, “Sorry, it’s hard sometimes to stay on the other side of people’s shields.”

“What if I don’t want that to be my purpose, what if I don’t want to make other people do something, if I want to make something of myself.  Something meaningful, that will be remembered long after my death, like you did.”  Arl looks thoughtful for a moment, arms crossed and biting her bottom lip.

“Siri, do you know why people struggle to believe the truth of who and what I am, that the force was once all together.  That some creator exists and survived.”

“Because they are stupid?” Arl chuckles quietly while shaking her head.

“No Siri, it’s because it was forgotten and they had not heard of it.” Siri’s eyes widen slightly as she begins to see where this is going, “One day, it has even already started, people will forget Garen was the first to make the switch to Sith.  They’ll forget where it began but they will _live_ where it grew to.  _He_ will be forgotten but the changes he made will live on _forever_.  Just as mine did, this order, both versions of it, exist because of the choices I made, yet in the end I was forgotten almost entirely.  Doing something meaningful does not mean being remembered, it means making a difference that will _last_ , long after you do.  Even if that difference is saving a child’s life, that change will change so many other things that you won’t even see, my point is, you have already made a difference.  You _are_ meaningful as are the decisions you make and the actions you have already performed.  You were on the first true council of the order of the force, you helped create this thing, that won’t be forgotten, not even when your name and face are.” Siri internally curses herself for the tears that sting her eyes, she blinks them away and smiles gratefully at Arl who smiles back before turning and seeing other-Arl leave. “Go time.”

The two stay out of sight in the aisles as long as possible before Arl is within hearing range of Dooku.

“Psst.” She whispers, Siri calls on all her Sith training to refrain from laughing at the childish gesture.  Dooku looks up and spots her, treating her to a bewildered expression even as he gets up and makes his way over.

“Knight Aa.” He says with a half bow, she smiles politely and returns the bow.

“Master Dooku, I was wondering if I might ask you something about what you said before.” He raises an eyebrow at Siri who smiles and only just stops herself from waving awkwardly, she bows instead.

“Master Dooku.” He returns the bow.

“Padawan Tachi.” Siri manages not to frown at still being a Padawan at twenty-one, still she supposed everyone had been knighted pretty early due to the trials they had all undertaken in her timeline. “I must say I am surprised to see you in the Archives, it was my understanding that you preferred to spend your time in the salle’s or…other places.”

“She’s helping me with a project of mine, Master Gallia decided she needed more research experience.” Arl covers as Siri bites back the glare, Arl had not mentioned that Dooku was a dick here, though given how he was before spending extended periods of time with them all, she should not be surprised.

“And what is this research project?  You did not mention having a new one earlier.” Arl and Siri could both detect the suspicion coming off of him, Arl internalises the curse she wishes she could expel, stupid Dooku and his ability to read everyone so well.

“You know my interest in the nature of the Force itself, that is how it started, but after what you said about there being ‘another’ out there, I thought perhaps I should expand my horizons, could you give any other information about what you found?” She asks as politely and ‘youngling-ey’ as she could.

“I could, if there weren’t one problem with that.” Dooku says with a neutral face, though he was radiating smugness…this could not be good.

“And what might that be?”

“Well for one, you are not the Arl Aa that just walked out of here.  Two, I found that mention not one minute ago and was planning on bringing it up to you this afternoon when we meet up again.” He says counting on his fingers, “Oh also, there’s the council meeting that you just went off to, the one Padawan Tachi here is already attending.”

“Could you have fucked up more?” Siri asks Arl after a beat of silence.

“Oh do shut up.” Arl replies.

“Would one of you care to explain?” Dooku asks impatiently.

“Okay, Lord Tyranus, I am Lady Siri Tachi, I am a Sith representative on the High Council of the Order of The Force.” Siri says with another bow more befitting of an equal than the earlier one, his eyebrows go up.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why do you not have a Sith name?” Arl asks her.

“Is that really a priority right now Arl?”

“Yes.”

“We decided that tradition could not continue if we were to have hundreds of Sith at a time.  We would run out of names, plus Ty banned Arch from naming anymore Sith after he came up with ‘Lord Schlau’.”

“I thought it was neat.” Dooku looks back and forth between them as though they are insane, Arl takes pity on him.

“Time travel, time travel, and more time travel.  We need to know about this other entity, it’s wreaking havoc in Tachi’s timeline.”

“Her timeline, not yours?”  He asks, Arl smiles patiently at him.

“I do not have a timeline per se however it is the one I am currently residing in.”

“Currently? Are you leaving?  Because Obi will throw a fit if you do.”

“I am not exactly leaving, nor am I staying, you all must understand that I do have other obligations as well besides your Order.  You all manage well without me, you created the order, didn’t you?”

“With your foundation and the motivation of you waking and being proud of us.”

“Which I am but…wait…we’re digressing, if you could just help us out please?  I would rather we not be gone too long, shit is falling in a heap.” Arl requests of Dooku who still seems lost.  “You once told me that to adapt is to survive.  When faced with a situation you cannot explain, deal with it first, work out the science later.” He stares for a moment longer before nodding.

“Right then, Master Aa, Lady Tachi, if you’ll follow me.” He requests before turning and walking back to his table, grabbing the materials he needs and taking them back to his quarters along with Arl and Siri.

“Arlie!” A young voice calls from down the hall just as Arl and the other two were to enter Dooku’s quarters, Arl turns and sees her youngest brother walking towards them, she smiles indulgently.

“I apologise for this baby brother but we are on the clock here, _you will continue on to wherever you were heading and forget you saw Siri, Dooku, and myself._ ” Arl says to her brother, using her own power to influence him with a force-suggestion.

“I will continue on to wherever I was heading and forget I saw Siri, Dooku, and yourself.” He says zombie-like before walking off.

“Did you seriously just do that?” Siri asks Arl, neither of her companions looking impressed.

“Yeeees, why?”

“He’s your brother!  You don’t use force suggestions on your friends!  Especially since in your case it’s all but mind control.”

“Hey!  I would _never_ control someone’s mind.” Arl replies in a vicious growl looking disgusted at the prospect, Siri holds up placating hands as they enter the room and shut the door.

“I merely meant your suggestions have a lot more power behind them and he’s a child, he had no hope.”

“Good, I needed him to listen to it anyway.” Arl replies not understanding the problem, Siri just throws her hands up.

“You know how Schlau was saying you two need to talk about social interaction?  I am going to tell him to include this part.” She says before dropping the subject entirely and making a gesture at Dooku to tell him not to even bother with it, he nods and places the materials in his arms onto the table.

“I have barely managed to begin a translation of this, I found reference to another but it was, well just before you called me over that I translated the middle of it of all places.” Dooku says handing it over, Siri takes one look at it and hands it to Arl.

“It’s Ch’blanc.” Siri says as she hands over the document.

“Ah, yes.  ‘The Other, an entity, a mutation of energy a threat to our existence, of existence at all.  She says it does not exist but I know otherwise, for nothing else could have done what I saw.  She says it was a nightmare, but I know it was a vision.  It was not from the force, it was from the other, though how I do not understand.  She says it cannot physically exist, but then, neither can the force.  I think she is wrong, for if existence exists, then non-existence does as well.  One day, one will bring balance to the force and it’s opposite.  That day is not today, today I have seen the destruction it will cause, I do not know when, but I will not be here to see it.  She says she will heed my warning, but I have seen that voice, those eyes, when aimed at younglings, I will not be so easily placated.  The end is upon us but only I can see it coming, and so if I will not be listened to, I will make her see the truth, the destruction.  And when I tell her again of what I saw, that it was worse, she will know the truth.  I need a name for the suffering and misery I cause, it _must_ be remembered if she is to listen, to be warned.  And so I decided on one, I am a Sith.  She will understand that our power must be cultivated if we are to stop them, if she will not hear me, I will _make_ her hear me.  And if she does not listen, then our help she will not receive.  Let her destroy herself and everything else, but when the other prevails, so will I along with it.  On that day, The Sith will reign and the Force will be no more. None must know, for they will not help, they believe in her too much, they do not know her like I do.  The Sith will gain in power, never knowing the true purpose of their existence, they too will find out too late.  The force will fall, and if it is to die, may she go along with it.  It is her punishment for not heeding my warning.  The Creator and the Force will be destroyed and the other will have victory, as will I.’” Arl reads aloud, her voice cracking several times throughout.

“Arl?” Siri asks, Arl outs a hand over her mouth as her eyes fill with tears.

“I didn’t know, gods I should have seen.” She says removing her hand and placing it on her forehead as panic overwhelms her along with guilt.

“Arl you need to calm down.” Siri tells her, feeling the panic in the force surrounding her, Arl doesn’t but she does collect all to surround only her.

“No, I need to do this I need to fix this.  We need to go back Siri, we need to return home.  Thank you Dooku.” Arl tells him, “ _Now forget._ ” She says before taking Siri’s arm and going back.

 

“Are you going to explain at any point?” Siri asks as she follows Arl from Dooku’s quarters to the meeting room.

“Siri I, it, I should have, I mean, I didn’t, I, it’s, gods I can’t.” Arl says as tears fall down her face and she leans her back on a wall before sliding down it.  She pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and hiding her face in the knees as sobs wrack her body.

“Oh damn, um, there there.” Siri says awkwardly patting her shoulder.  “Should I uh, go get one of the others?” Arl doesn’t seem to hear her.  “I can’t really just leave you here.” Siri says thinking out loud, she sits down besides Arl and wraps an arm around the woman.  “I don’t know what is going on and I am not great at the whole ‘comfort’ thing.  But I do know what guilt and regret looks like, allowing it to haunt you will not make it better.  If you fucked up Arl, then stop crying, stop feeling sorry for yourself, get up, pull yourself together, and _fix_ it.” Arl takes a few deep breaths calming herself as much as she could.

“You’re right, I owe him that much.” Arl says though still crying a bit, she stands.

“Okay then, let’s go.” Siri says not sure what to make of that comment.

 

“What the fuck happened?” Garen asks when they walk in.

“Just, uh, stuff.” Arl says, “The document Dooku found, it was written in Ch’blanc.”

“What did it say?  I assume you speak it fluently now.” Dooku asks, she smiles. “If not having created it.”

“I did not create _everything_ you know…though in this case I did have a profound influence on it.”

[What did it say Arl?] Quin signs, Arl sighs and gestures to Tachi who she knows memorised it as Arl read it.

“‘The Other, an entity, a mutation of energy a threat to our existence, of existence at all.  She says it does not exist but I know otherwise, for nothing else could have done what I saw.  She says it was a nightmare, but I know it was a vision.  It was not from the force, it was from the other, though how I do not understand.  She says it cannot physically exist, but then, neither can the force.  I think she is wrong, for if existence exists, then non-existence does as well.  One day, one will bring balance to the force and it’s opposite.  That day is not today, today I have seen the destruction it will cause, I do not know when, but I will not be here to see it.  She says she will heed my warning, but I have seen that voice, those eyes, when aimed at younglings, I will not be so easily placated.  The end is upon us but only I can see it coming, and so if I will not be listened to, I will make her see the truth, the destruction.  And when I tell her again of what I saw, that it was worse, she will know the truth.  I need a name for the suffering and misery I cause _must_ be remembered if she is to listen, to be warned.  And so I decided on one, I am a Sith.  She will understand that our power must be cultivated if we are to stop them, if she will not hear me, I will _make_ her hear me.  And if she does not listen, then our help she will not receive.  Let her destroy herself and everything else, but when the other prevails, so will I along with it.  On that day, The Sith will reign and the Force will be no more. None must know, for they will not help, they believe in her too much, they do not know her like I do.  The Sith will gain in power, never knowing the true purpose of their existence, they too will find out too late.  The force will fall, and if it is to die, may she go along with it.  It is her punishment for not heeding my warning.  The Creator and the Force will be destroyed and the other will have victory, as will I.’” Siri recites.

“I assume you know who wrote this?” Dooku asks, Arl nods.

“It was a very long time ago, before the Order split, obviously.  His name was Obi-Kin Aa.” Arl says earning a few weird looks, okay full disclosure, it was more than a few. “I missed my brothers, quit judging me, damn.”

“That is so very much _not_ what we were looking at you like that for.” Anakin tells her.

“You didn’t miss me?” Owen asks looking offended.

“Stuff your brothers, what about me?” Garen asks jokingly, Xan snaps his fingers at Garen agreeing with the statement, “Yeah, him too.”

“This is not open for discussion.” Arl declares. “Kin was my son.”

“Why do I feel like you two didn’t get along?” Terza asks as the others process her having a kid at all.

“I perhaps wasn’t the _best_ mother.  I was too focused on the Order and the future, on everything really, except on him.  There was a bit of resentment there sure but…I didn’t think he wanted me _dead_.  We had gotten along better when he was an adult, then he came to me one day saying he’d had a vision, a vision of a horrible future, that we needed to prepare.  He did not know I was the force and instead of telling him that it had to be a nightmare because I am the force and did not give him a vision, I just dismissed his concerns, told him not to worry about it and sent him on his way.” She says, “I possibly could have handled that situation better, neither of us were exactly at our best, his father had just died.” She adds the last part more as an afterthought than anything else.

“Arl, he tried to create an army to fight something you refused to acknowledge with the intention of bowing before it and watching you be destroyed should he fail and refuse to save you.  I think that is a bit more than ‘possibly could have handled the situation better’.” Bant tells her, Arl shrugs.

“From my perspective, my thirty-eight-year-old son, who is not my biggest fan, interrupts an important meeting to tell me about a vision I knew I didn’t give him.  I tried to placate him, to tell him it was a nightmare as I thought I knew it to be, and that everything was okay.  How was I to know he’d break my order and turn against me?  I feel like that’s a bit of an over-reaction.” Arl defends.

“And I thought the force-suggestion and memory altering on your family was bad.” Siri mutters.

“I’m sorry the what now?” Mace asks.

“Not you guys relax, other-Ani and other-Dooku from the other timeline.  I couldn’t exactly let them remember we had been there, it would have screwed with everything.  We have more important things to focus on right now than my morality.” Arl tells them growing frustrated.

“You say that yet I just saw you completely break down in a hallway wracked with guilt.” Siri points out.

“You were the one that told me to pull myself together and fix it, that is what I am trying to do.  I cannot change how badly I fucked up my son 14 millenia ago, all I can do is try to undo the damage now.”

“How could you not have known that your son was the first Sith?” Garen asks.

“I did know, I just didn’t realise that was his reasoning.  I thought he was just power-hungry.  It would not have been the first time I saw people I loved, innocent people, do something like that for no apparent reason.  I dealt with it and moved on, at least I _thought_ I’d dealt with it.”

“Do you even hear yourself?!” Garen demands, “HE WAS YOUR SON!”

“Really?  I must have missed that somehow despite the _hours of agonizing labour_.” Arl drawls sarcastically.

“It’s like you don’t even care Arls.”

“I was a bit busy trying to SAVE THE ENTIRE KRIFFING GALAXY.  AGAIN.”

“You were once willing to let the entire galaxy suffer and die if it saved your brother’s life.”

“I was young and foolish.  No one person is more important than a galaxy.  Do you know how I learnt that Garen?  I let the galaxy burn to save my brother, and watched as he was the one to help burn it down.  That was on me.  That will not ever happen again, not for my brother, not for my son, not for anyone.” Arl tells him angrily.  He looks at her heart brokenly.

“I was so glad to have you back Arlie, I guess I didn’t notice that we didn’t.  My Arlie died and you came back instead.” Garen declares before storming out of the room.

“So, this other entity…” Arlie begins saying before Xan interrupts.

“Are you seriously just going to continue on right now?”

“Was…I supposed to care about that little tantrum?” Arl asks looking genuinely confused as she gestures to the door Garen just left through.

“Okay, everyone be pissed off later, Qui, Mic, one of you or both go after Garen, we’ll deal with this and then Arl, you and I are going to have a conversation.” Mace tells her, she nods.

“As you wish.” The other two leave to go after their padawan/apprentice. “Now, Obi-Kin seemed sure that this other entity had given him a vision of horrific destruction, one he believed we needed to prepare for.”

“He seems to contradict himself throughout the…journal?” Plo points out, Arl nods.

“I do believe it is a journal, he wrote one as a child, I did not know he continued to into adulthood.”

“He says he will fight this entity, but also says he will join it.  Says he will be victorious along with it, but also says he will not live to see the destruction he envisioned.”

“Visions can be hard to interpret perhaps that, along with him just writing down his whirling thoughts in a journal has produced this result.” Obi suggests.

“Or he was drunk.” Dooku adds re-reading it, Obi chuckles a bit as do Xan and Bant.

“I am fairly certain he was allergic to alcohol.” Arl says thoughtfully.

“Fairly certain?” Bant asks not sure she wants to know the answer.

“It was either Kin or Shmina that was allergic.”

“And Shmina is Kin’s sister I am guessing?”

“Oh…I suppose yes.”

“Suppose?” Mace asks very confused, Arl nods.

“I never really thought about it like that.  Shmina and her twin were born 500 years after Kin, it was another lifetime.”

“You have separated such things far too much in your head Arl.” Obi tells his sister, she nods.

“Out of necessity.”

“What do you mean?” Bellan asks confused, Arl smiles patiently once again, only this time there was a flicker of repressed pain in her eyes that Bellan was sure would haunt her for a long time.

“If you were going through life knowing everything around you was temporary, that it would all die and you would live on because that’s what you do.  What you always do, you live on.  Well, how long could you stand it before you try to separate yourself as much as possible?” Arl asks, she blinks and the pain in her eyes is gone. “He may have been in a hurry.” Arl says frowning thoughtfully at the table where Siri has written down the paragraph on some flimsiplast and placed it in the centre of said table.

“I think maybe he was just working through things in his head as he was writing it down, changing his mind several times as he thought about it more.  If you witnessed this great destruction what would you have thought of first Arl?” Bellan suggests before looking to Arl.

“Changing the direction of history.” Quin facepalms.

[I think she more meant back when you were just a lowly human.]

“Oh, um, I do not remember.  Probably of how to save them.”

“Yes okay, you were a bad example.” Bellan admits.

“Making sure you are not there to see it’s fruition.” Dooku tells them, Bellan nods.

“I believe he intended on dying before it happened, then later realised that he would fight against it, then decided he would not, he would join it.”

“You think a child of Arlie’s would decide even briefly to opt out?” Reeft asks incredulously.

“I mean she did jump off a building so that she didn’t have to watch reality end.” Bellan says earning several baffled looks, “I did not mean for that to come out as harsh as it did.”

“I should think not.” Terza tells her former Padawan.

“She is not wrong though, Kin’s first thoughts were always of himself before he thought past it.”

“Gee I wonder why that was.” Xan mutters.

“Probably because no one else’s was going to be.” Arl guesses non-chalantly.

“How can you say that so calmly?”

“Ever heard the phrase time heals all wounds?”

“Yes.”

“It’s rubbish, you’re better off just blocking it out from the start.”

“You really need to see a mind-healer.”

“Xanatos, I am a mind-healer.”

“Seriously?”

“How in all the god’s names is this the topic right now?”

“This did not give us any more information about this other entity, we already knew it capable of visions.” Mace tells them before looking up confused and looking around the place.  “Um Arl.”

“Yes Master?”

“Was this room used as a control centre of some kind in the other timeline?”

“War room yes.”

“It’s happening again?” Bellan asks him as Terza walks over and checks him over.

“Oh, dear gods.” Mace suddenly exclaims looking horrified.  “He-what-you?   How could you ever do something like this?” Mace asks looking at Dooku with tears spilling down his face and a horrified look in his eyes.

“Mace I didn’t do any of it, not me.”

“If you were not capable of it, no version of you would be.  It’s just another timeline.”

“What is it that I did?”

“You…” He begins saying before jumping and looking to the door. “This is it, this is when he fell for the third time isn’t it?” He asks Arl who raises an eyebrow, “He killed Grey.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Who’s Grey?” Garen asks as he and the other two walk back in.

“Someone who should never have died.” Obi says quietly. “It was just to get the attention he needed to tell Arl something.”

“What?” Dooku asks, Arl closes her eyes and counts to ten before breathing out.

“You killed a child in front of her Master and little sister in order to get my attention and tell me that you had murdered Xanatos.”

“You were kind of a dick already in the other timeline when we were there.” Siri admits.

“So, what did we learn about this other entity?”

“That a man long dead and not especially strong in the force thought he had a vision from something other than me.  He thought it a mutation of energy and a threat to existence, he thought it to be non-existence.” Arlie summarises.

“How could someone who is literally half-force not be strong in it?” Bant asks.

“Because I made it so.  I kept as much of myself out of him as possible.”

“Why?”

“Who is safer right now Bant?  Us?  Or some random force-null?”

“Debateable, where, when?  Situation? Fighting skill?”

“Peaceful village, 14’000 years ago, stayed in the peaceful village, very skilled fighter.”

“Probably the force-nul…oh.”

“Sure, _then_ she cared.  Not when he needed help.” Garen mutters, Arl stands up and turns to face him.

“Is there something you want to say to me Garen?” She demands.

“Yes, you are a terrible mother and a terrible person.”

“I am not a person Garen, or have you forgotten that? Your friend _died_ , I am what became of her soul after it was blended in with the energy that makes _everything_.  You are right, she died, I came back instead.  You can keep being a little bitch about it or you can mourn your friend and deal with the fact that you now have to deal with me if you all wish to survive.”

“We wouldn’t be in this danger if it weren’t for you!”

“I cannot help that your friend made me Garen, I cannot help that I exist, I am sorry it bothers you so much.  But do not _ever_ presume to know a damned _thing_ about me when you cannot even comprehend what I truly am.”

“Why do you pretend to be her then?!” Garen demands.

“Garen that’s enough!” Obi-Wan declares volatilely.

“If it bothers you so damned much that I took on my previous form then fine! I won’t!” Arl declares before she glows white, when it goes away she looks completely different.  Shoulder length blonde hair and light blue eyes, pale skin, faint freckles along her nose and under her eyes.  She was the same height and build, though possible a little thicker than she had been since she was very skinny beforehand. “Call me what you damn well please but _stop getting in my way_.” Even her voice was different, a slightly higher pitch than it had been before.

“Okay, Garen Fucking sit your ass down in that chair like you should have fucking done ages ago.” Micah orders, Garen sits.

“Look, we’ll all think on this and meet up tomorrow about it, for now everybody go and…calm the fuck down.” Quinlan says aloud surprising everyone, but no one would have noticed him signing, including his Padawan.  Everyone leaves.

“Garen, you and I, your quarters, Arlie, you and Mace, home.  Asajj, you’re going with Qui-Gon tonight.  Everything will be better tomorrow dear, I promise.” Mic dictates, his voice softening for the young girl who smiles shakily.  The six mentioned leave, everyone else sits around for a while.

“Well fuck.” Bant says.

“My sentiments exactly.” Aayla agrees.

“You all know that was utter bullshit, right?  It is actually Arlie.” Obi clarifies, they nod.

“She’s got some issues but that happens with living.  It’s still her, just like her last trip through time, and yours.” Tahl tells him, everyone agrees with her.

“Just checking…Ani no.” Obi says turning to look at his Padawan.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You need to shield better little brother.”

“Oops.”

“No killing the jackass no matter how much a jackass he manages to be.  Besides Arl was an asshole too remember?”

“Yeah I did hear that too.  That was also bullshit.”

“Language!” Every adult in the room says save for Quin who raises an eyebrow.

[Explain.]

“[There is no way Arl cares that little, I don’t care how long it’s been.]”

“Experiences have a big effect on people Ani.” Bellan reminds him softly, Obi shakes his head.

“It’s not that, it’s a defence mechanism.  She was a lot like this when she first came to the order too.  Pretended to care about nothing, was just generally an asshole and pushed everyone away.  We weren’t hugely close for a long time because of it.  I didn’t understand why Garen was so smitten with her, then I got to know her and realised she wasn’t all bad.  Anyway, that whole thing after Garen stormed out was an act, what he said fucking gutted her.  She was literally telling me yesterday that she felt like she didn’t belong here anymore, didn’t know how to fit in when she isn’t the same person she was before.  I _had_ dealt with the situation.  Now that’s gone to shit.”

“He just needs time.” Bant tells them.

“How much time does he have before the damage is irreparable though?” Reeft asks.

“As long as he needs, Arl can’t hold a grudge for shit.” Xanatos replies.

“And she has this habit of literally loving everything in existence, she can’t help it.” Anakin adds.

[Especially him.] Quin signs, they all nod, [Sorry Xan.]

“What?  Why would I care?” He asks bewildered as though he hadn’t just been looking like a kicked puppy.

“Boning my brother or not, you are not subtle about how you feel for Arl.” Anakin declares earning several incredulous looks and a yank on his braid from his Master.

“What is with you today?” Obi-Wan demands.

“Oh, I don’t know…might have something to do with walking through my home and being reminded that some version of me slaughtered everyone.” Obi flinches. “Plo, do you want to tell Obi-Wan please about the new initiate you brought in?”

“A young Togruta, Ahsoka Tano.” Plo says not sure why Anakin wants him to.

“You remember her?”

“I remember her leaving the order.” Ani replies flatly.

“Okay, bad mood accepted.  Not okay though, stop being an ass.”

“Yes Master.” Anakin concedes, “And sorry, to both you and Xanny.”

“Thank you Anakin.” Xanatos replies as Obi bows his head in acceptance.

“Is that still happening?” Reeft asks curiously, “What?  We’ve been out of the loop for a while.” He defends at the looks while looking to Bellan for a moment who nods.

“No, it is not.” Xan replies.

“It’s not?” Owen asks confused.

“It was a stupid mistake on both our parts Owen, one we have learnt from and moved on from.” Obi explains, Xanatos nods in complete agreement.  He was almost relieved when they’d had that conversation yesterday and ended whatever it was they had been doing.

“And by the way I do not have feelings for your sister.” Xan defends, Anakin snorts, Xanatos glares at him. “I have the same amount of romantic attachment to your sister as you do to Little Obi’s.” It takes Anakin a minute to work out what that meant, then his eyes widen.

“Ha!” Owen says realising Anakin is so very trapped.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, for one, I just gave myself a fucking heart attack thinking I'd deleted all my work on this. Actually I'm a daft ninkinpoop and was looking in wrong damned folder.
> 
> Two, sorry this is so late, I was hung up on a story I'm still writng and forgot to update this one. Well, not forgot, but didn't. Anyways, eight chapters left after this, has been good times. I miss writing this story, sort of, although, I'm also super glad it's over and will be very happy when this is uploaded and all over with. So in conclusion, I'm not missing this at all. Nine months it took me to write these three stories. NINE MONTHS. I kind of hate myself for wasting nine months of my life even if this story is still my precious baby.
> 
> I'm rambling, sorry, enjoy the story! :)

Chapter 15

 

“That went way too far Garen!  I told you to talk to her not demand she stop being herself because you can’t get over the fact that she’s changed!” Micah yells at his former-padawan who was sat on his couch as Mic paced in front of it.

“That’s not what happened!  She said it herself, Arl died.”

“YOU ARE AN IDIOT! SHE SAID THAT BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT IT WAS WHAT YOU NEEDED.  BECAUSE SHE COULDN’T BARE THE THOUGHT OF YOU HATING HER.  SHE LOVES YOU!” Garen freezes.  “Are you really going to be so blind as to not see that she needs your help not your hatred?  She’s struggling and scared and now thanks to you, she thinks she’s alone!  Renounced her identity because _you deemed her unworthy of it_!”

“Fuck.” Garen whispers.

 

“Arleia, people have emotions, you need to adjust how you deal with that.” Mace begins, Arl rolls her eyes, it was perhaps the most human thing he’d seen her do since she came back.

“I am not people.  I only feel emotions because I chose to give it to myself.”

“Arlie, you are human, maybe not in the physical sense anymore, but you will always be human.  It is a part of who you are.  You make attachments and you love people like a person does because you are you.  No matter what your idiot brother-padawan says when he’s upset.”

“Oh that’s nothing, he was ready to kill me once.”

“I saw your face Arl, his words hurt a lot more than that ever did.” It was like that was the switch, Arl’s tears spilled over her face and she let lose a gut-wrenching sob. “Oh sweetie.”

“My best friend hates my very existence, my son wanted me dead, and every person in that room thinks I’m a psychopath. THIS IS WHY I DON’T GET CLOSE TO PEOPLE!  WHY DID I EVER LET YOU IN!?” Arl suddenly screams before burying her face into Mace’s tunics and grabbing his tunic in her hands, he wraps his arms around her.

“You love people anyway, you have the greatest capacity to love that I have ever seen, it’s your super-power.  Letting people in is the only way you benefit from it too.”

“What about when they don’t love you back?”

“Luckily for you, you don’t have to worry about that.” A voice says from the doorway, Mace turns and sees Mic and Garen standing there.

“We’ll give you two a minute.” Mace says getting a nod from Arlie before standing up and heading into the bedroom with Mic, glaring at Garen warningly on the way, he nods sheepishly before moving towards Arl.

“Can I sit?” Arl nods.

“It’s your home more than mine.” Garen flinches at the words but sits down.

“You lived here first.”

“I meant the whole temple.”

“Arl it is your home.”

“Here I thought I wasn’t Arl Aa.”

“Here I thought you didn’t care about anyone.”

“Here I thought you knew me at all!”

“Here I thought I did too.” Arl looks at her hands, Garen winces as he realises she misunderstood him, “I was right, to a certain extent.  But I looked at what you put to other people and thought that was it, I should have known better. There is always more to a person, but I never looked with you because you were beautiful on the surface of your personality.  I never really got to know you yet I claimed to know you better than anyone.”

“You are beginning to remind me of my older brother from Earth.  He got randomly heart felt and completely off topic and rabbited on as well.”

“Rabbited on?” Garen asks, Arl snickers.

“Earth saying, it means you’re going on about stuff despite having already made your point, adding things unnecessarily.”

“I was thinking, we should go to Tatooine.”

“What?” Arl asks confused at the abrupt topic change.

“And to Earth.”

“Is there a station coming up where I can hop onto this train of thought?” Garen chuckles.

“I want to know you, all of you.  Plus, you keep forgetting stuff, I thought maybe you’d like the reminder.”

“Of everything I’ve ever lost?”

“No, of everything you have ever gained.  Nothing is ever lost Arl.  After you died, I thought I’d lost you.  Then Mic told me that even in your death I would always feel the love I have for you, and know that you loved me too.  You haven’t lost anything Arl, it’s all inside you.  I think you need that reminder sometimes, just like I did.” Arl smiles at him, he hugs her, she hugs him back, “I’m sorry I was a dick.  I haven’t coped so well sometimes with you dying and then you came back when I wasn’t even close to really moving on and everything was different and shit hit the fan and…and I am so sorry.  You are you Arlie, and that is all you _ever_ need to be.  I love you.” He tells her before freezing, “Um…” He says, she laughs, “Are you seriously laughing at me right now?” She laughs harder as she pulls away from the hug.

“You’ve never said that to me before.  Not like this.”

“Really?  Never?” She shakes her head, “Then I’m a fool.” He says.

“I love you too.” He smiles.

“Do you even realise you did that?”

“What?” She asks confused, he picks up a strand of her hair and shows her, it’s brown and down to her hips again…she’s swapped back to her original form again. “Oh…I…” She begins to say, he smiles.

“Don’t you dare apologise, you take whatever form you want and I will love it because it will be you.” She smiles and leans forward, he meets her half way and kisses her.

“I am sorry I sounded so cold about Kin.  I do love and care for him deeply it just…”

“It’s easier to pretend you didn’t.”

“But it is not fair, I wasn’t a great mother to him in life, the least I can do is be better in his death.  He deserves that much.  I should have listened to him.  I tried so hard to keep him safe, to keep everyone safe and…I failed again.”

“No Arlie, you didn’t.  You had no way of knowing it wasn’t a nightmare.  We are going to find this other entity and stop it.  Together.  All of us.  Because you are not and will never be alone Arlie, not truly.” He tells her, she smiles, he kisses her again. “But Arls…I um…well…”

“Spit it out Ren.”

“Okay so… ObitoldmeaboutmedatingReeftandyoudatingBellanandhowwelovedeachotherandstuffandijustwanttobehonestbecauseIkindofhavefeelingsforXanandI’msosorry.” Arl blinks at him a few times.

“You are lucky I am the force or I would not have caught all that.  There is a bit Obi doesn’t know about the situation in the other timeline with Bellan and Reeft but it really doesn’t matter anymore.  I sort of had feelings for Xan too.”

“Had?” Garen asks eyebrow raised.

“I mean it’s been 15 and a half thousand years.  I have changed, things have changed and…”

“And you still care for him.”

“I always knew I was coming back so feelings never faded.”

“So basically you like him too?”

“Yes, I don’t know why I had to make that so complicated.”

“Because you’re you Arl and I love you.” She smiles. “Xan loves you.”

“I know.”

“I mean…if you’d prefer to be with him…”

“Hey no, no Garen.  I…care for him a lot but, I mean I think we’ve just started something…haven’t we?”

“Yes, we have.”

“I am not going to leave you for him.” He looks thoughtful, she frowns, “What…?”

“Well…what if you didn’t have to?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he loves you, you care for him, I care for him, I’m pretty sure he has a minor crush on me…” Arl nods.

“That he does.  At least you flirt often enough.” She laughs.

“Shut up you flirt with everyone.”

“I’m not nearly as bad as my brother.”

“Which one?”

“Obi, Owen’s innocent and Anakin has been in love with Padmè since…well a few days ago.  Anyway, my point is he felt it would be unfaithful even though they weren’t together.”

“He’s a good guy your brother, but yeah Obi-Wan is a massive flirt.”

“You should have seen he and Ventress fight.  It was disturbing, Anakin threw up once when they went a bit far on the flirt/fight/taunt front.”

“Right because she was a separatist Sith assassin in the other timeline.”

“Yep.”

“She’s a cool kid though.”

“I know, I’m looking forward to really getting to know her.  We’ve digressed again.”

“We have a serious digressing problem.” Garen says laughing, Arl laughs too. “So Xanny…” Garen says when they both calm down again.

“Hows about we talk to him?” She suggests, he nods.

“We should let our Masters know we are leaving.”

“True, Masters we are leaving.” Arl says without raising her voice.

“USE PROTECTION!” Mic calls through the door way louder than necessary.

“Umm…” A voice says from the doorway, the two turn and see Xanatos standing there. “I came to check on Arl but…bad time.”

“Fuck me sideways.” They hear Mic mutter self-deprecatingly from the bedroom when he realises Xan heard him.

“USE PROTECTION.” Arl yells to them.  They hear Mace laugh.

“Oh shut up love.” Mic says to his lover who laughs harder. “Why do I put up with you?”

“Okay, we should go somewhere else, Xanny, we were just about to come looking for you.” Garen says holding Arl’s hand as he pulls her up and walks over to Xanatos.

“ARLIE!” Mic suddenly calls panicked, Arl sprints over, forgetting to use the door and runs right through the wall.

“Umm…what?” Xan says staring at the wall dumbfoundedly.

“Bamboozled again.” Garen whispers, Xan hits him over the back of the head.

“Will you quit quoting the damn holonet things.”

“‘Holonet things’? No no dear Xanny, you are not nearly old enough to be able to get away with that.”

“Garen, I’m twenty-five, you’re nineteen.”

“And?  Does an age-gap of five and a half years bother you so much?”

“I-uh…are we still talking about the holo-jokes?”

“What else would we be talking about?” Garen asks innocently despite invading Xan’s space and standing almost nose to nose, he then smiles, “We should go find out what’s happening.” He says pulling away and walking into the bedroom.

“Kriff sake.” He hears Xan mutter quietly and smirks to himself.

“What happened?” Garen asks walking in and finding Mic hugging a distraught looking Mace.

“More hallucinations, he could hear them properly.  Some old fight they had when Mace was having an alcohol problem.”

“Moo Moo had an alcohol problem?”

“It never got too bad.”

“That looked pretty damned bad Arlie!” Mace says, his voice shaky, “I thought he was going to leave me! Or other-me or whatever!”

“Mace, it’s not you, it never happened here, and I was not privy to it so I can’t say if he was really going to but what you saw was the very last day of your issues, the day we brought others into the fold and worked out who the Sith is.  Like a month before the war or something.”

“I know, I know I just…I don’t know what’s happening.”  Arl puts a hand on his cheek and looks him in the eye.

“I do not know either Master, but I _will_ find out, and I _will_ stop it.” He smiles, before looking back and seeing the two men behind her, standing in the doorway looking at him in concern.

“I know you will, but start tomorrow.” He says with a suggestive look, she hits him.  He laughs shakily.

“Come on, let’s leave them to…release some stress.” Arl says winking exaggeratedly to Mic who winks back earning himself a head slap from Mace and a disgusted groan from Garen.

 

“So why were you both coming to find me?” Xan asks after they leave Mace and Mic’s quarters, Garen and Arl exchange looks debating the wisdom of discussing this in such a public place.

“Well, we both realized that we care for each other a lot…” Arl begins and sees the downcast of Xan’s features and depression in the force before she continues, “But we also care for you a lot.” He looks up at her in surprise.

“So, we were thinking, why have one when you could possibly have both assuming all three parties are interested?” Garen adds, Arl and Xan exchange incredulous looks.

“This is why you aren’t a diplomat.”

“Oh my gods…Garen…can you fly?” Xan and Garen look at her.

“No Arlie…can you…?”

“Why would that be so weird?”

“I mean…most people can’t.” Xanatos says, she looks confused before she literally drops to the ground laughing, in the middle of the freakin temple.

“Gods!  I meant a kriffing plane you idiots!” She says still laughing, both guys look to each other feeling extremely stupid.

“Yeah, yeah that makes uh…makes more sense.” Garen admits while Xanatos just laughs at their own idiocy.

“You three are an essential part of the foundation of our order, one of you looks like he just found out the world is round, one looks like he’s going to pee himself from laughing and the third is literally rolling on the ground.” A voice says, Garen looks up, still looking confused, and see Junahl Bordo.

“Junie.”

“Hello Schlau, Xanny.”

“Junahl.”

“Junie!” Arl says happily as Xan attempts to help her up as best he can in the chair.

“Arlie, I heard you’re alive…or not but back.”

“Well, ish, it is good to see you, old friend.”

“And you as well, you’ve been greatly missed.  I hear you fixed one of my operative’s legs, I thank you for that.  I could use more people in the field.”

“A lot of physical therapy before that happen Master Bordo.”

“I am aware, but one must start somewhere and at least this is progress.  I hear also that we have a new threat on the horizon.  Should the Shadows be getting further involved?” She asks directing the question at Arlie.

“Maul is believed to be heavily involved with this new threat so assigning a Shadow to the case is not a bad idea however on a whole there is not much a Shadow could do.” Junahl nods at her words.

“Master Xanatos, as you are already aware of the situation, I would elect you to do this.” He nods.

“It would be my pleasure Master.”

“I was thinking Arl, someone mentioned assigning people to this case, which is good, but we should make sure we have one person from each sect in on it plus you.  If there is some way we can communicate with you directly then when we need you, we can let you know.” Garen tells her, she nods.

“Well we have our Shadow, we should take this suggestion to the rest of the council tomorrow.”

“There is something else to do before I am assigned anyway.” Xan says, the other two look confused, Arl goes to ask but Garen stops her.

“The Shadows have been increasingly reticent about their policies and rules and such since we voted to give them full autonomy.  We can’t control people who are supposed to be able to stop us if something goes wrong after all.  So don’t even bother asking, it goes nowhere.”

“I mean, they couldn’t stop me anyway, no harm in me knowing, right?” Arl asks smiling sweetly, Xan and Junahl both give her identical looks of ‘you’re shitting me, right?’ “Fair call.”

“Where do you fall in this order now Arl?” Junahl asks, Arl thinks about it.

“I mean, technically I own it.” She receives three confused looks, “Well, the temple, the land it’s on, the order, which is technically a business, I started it.  I built it, I paid for it, and since I never died, I still own it all.  But beyond that, I pretty much fall outside of it right now.”

“Yet another thing that will be brought before the council then I’d expect.” Bordo says with a look to Xan who bows.

“It shall be done Master.”

“See that it is Master Shadow.  Good evening you three, try not to get into _too_ much trouble.” She says with a wink before walking off.

“Your boss is weird.” Garen says when he’s sure she’s out of earshot.

“Them making _you_ boss is weird.” He retorts, Arl sniggers before turning to Garen.

“How the kriff did _that_ happen?”

“Obi _really_ wanted off the council.  If he were representing the Jedi I expect it would not have been so bad. But he wants off the Sith train as soon as possible.  When we gain more people able to teach others he can properly join the Jedi ranks, but for now…it’s just not an option.

“I mean there are plenty of Sith in the galaxy right now, why don’t we ask them?”

“Because they are _Dark_ Sith Arls.”

“People can change, maybe if we give them another option they’ll want to join.”

“Hey, all that stuff about needing the order reunited for you to deal with Wrath…was any of that real?” Garen asks suddenly, Arl smiles.

“It is much easier to pull on my power when it is all headed in the same direction.  Instead of me being forced to fight against myself and…being put to _horrific_ uses.” Arl says looking disturbed as a shudder runs through her.

“I never even considered that.” Xan whispers.

“This is the truth of it all, I will consider nothing dark.  Not Sith, not Jedi, not Custos.  No one is dark unless they use me to kill someone.  Jedi, Sith, Custos, you all use me when you need it, but only Dark force-users will use me to kill someone instead of doing it themselves.”

“Why not stop them from doing so?”

“I always felt that, since I’m so far above everyone…I don’t mean that as a brag I mean in terms of power I am…I don’t want to say superior but I have more of it.” She says as Garen and Xan exchange amused looks, “I’m not arrogant shut up, anyway, I always felt that I shouldn’t interfere too much.”

“Then what the kriff are you doing now?” Garen asks, she smirks.

“Well if that’s how you feel about it I’ll just leave…” She says making her body become more transparent before he reaches out, surprised to find her solid again.

“You are not going anywhere.” He says pulling her close.

“What I am doing now is deciding to put my family before my own reservations of what is an appropriate use of my power.  Although honestly stopping people from killing people with me is more self-defence than anything.”

“True, could you block someone’s connection to you?” Xanatos asks, she looks at him oddly.

“Theoretically but if I am not connected with something it falls apart, it has no energy, it does not exist.  I can do what I did to Kin and make them as force-null as possible though, why?”

“It would make bringing Maul in a lot easier.” She raises an eyebrow, “Even just temporarily.”

“Bring it up with the council, I’ll consider it.”

“What are you laughing at you maniac?” Xan asks Garen who suddenly starts laughing.

“We digressed so kriffing far.  No Arl, I cannot fly a ship.  Which I am assuming is what a plane is.”

“Yes it is, and oh my gods, Garen, dude, listen to me man, oh my gods, you have to.”

“Arls.”

“Yeah, I heard it, I sound like a seventeen-year-old girl.  You got me thinking about Earth it’s not my fault.”

“Okay, why am I leaning to fly a ship?”

“I just think you’d make a great pilot and that you’d enjoy it.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“I’m pretty sure this is still not how this conversation started.”

“Right, so Xanny…thoughts?” Garen asks, Xan blushes.

“Perhaps we should have waited until we were not in the middle of the temple before starting this conversation.” He answers walking towards Garen’s quarters, where they had been heading to begin with.

“Awh, you are adorable when you blush.”

“I am not adorable Schlau!”

“Yeah you are, like Arl when she bites her lip.  Where did you pick that habit up from anyway?”

“Tatooine, I ditched the habit on the trade federation ship when I was seventeen, I did not realise it had come back.”

“Only since you got back.” Xan assures her.

“And I am not adorable anyway.  I am a super-powerful ancient being that transcends space and time.”

“And adorably bites her lip when she’s thinking hard or stressed.”

“I’ll bite something else in a kriffing minute.”

“Ouch.” Garen says awkwardly covering his crotch with his hand.

“And if I meant your bottom lip?” Arl asks looking at him through her lashes and biting her bottom lip, he licks his suddenly dry lips. “So easy.” She says with a smirk before continuing to his room.

“Whipped.” Xanatos says before following her.

“I am so screwed.”

 

“So, what exactly are we talking about here?  Sorry, I don’t mean to be annoying or nitpicky but not having the kriffing conversation just makes everything more awkward later and lived it once, no more thanks.” Xan says nervously when they finally get to Garen’s quarters, Garen and Xan sat on the couch while Arl sat cross-legged on the table.

“Don’t be sorry Xanny, this is good, talking and hashing things out is _always_ good.” Garen says reassuringly, Arl nods in agreement, that seems to relax Xan somewhat.

“Okay, I am warning everyone I am about to digress slightly but this has been bothering, where did Xanny come from and how have I missed it?” Arl asks, “Because I am a little offended that there was a nickname out there I was not aware of.”

“Clee.”

“Right, I met her at that dinner, right?” Xan and Garen look confused.

“I forgot she didn’t really join the group until information week, well into your coma.”

“I didn’t but I assumed you’d have met in the other timeline.” Garen says, “Clee Rhara.” Arl thinks back, face scrunched up in thought and biting her lip, Garen bites back the comment.

“Never met her, I think…I think she may have been stationed with Ki in the war…oh…oh dear.”

“What?”

“She died when he did.  She must have.  Actually, even before that, she was a pilot right?  I think…I think she may have taught you to fly.”

“Yes she’s a pilot.  I suppose without Anarch being found out, they never made up and I was gone and so she just never would have met you.” Xan says, Arl smiles.

“You’ll have to properly introduce us, then, won’t you?” He smiles widely and nods, she returns the smile. “So…” He says, Garen nods.

“I uh, am supposed to be the cocky confident one here.”

“You forgot have no shame.” Arl adds, the three laugh.

“Hang on, why am I struggling.  This is you guys, the two people I am closest to in the world, the two people who have been my absolute best friends since I was thirteen-years-old.  There is no struggle here, it’s a natural progression of care because I do.  I care for you both deeply and I suppose what I want here is a relationship in which I can show that care.” Garen tells them feeling his confidence return with the realisation that no matter what happened here, they would not leave him.

“I want that too.” Xan says quietly, Arl smiles, but not a patient one.  It was a true smile of happiness and…love.

“Me too.”

“All right, get over here Arl.” Garen says moving towards Xan on the couch and putting an arm around his shoulder as Arl came and sat on his lap with her legs over Xan’s, she put an arm around them both as Garen put an arm around her, Xan hugs them both as well. “Huh, I was worried this would be awkward, too many limbs, but nope, it works.”

“Then quit ruining the kriffing moment jackass.”

“Damn, feel the love guys.”

“Seriously where did over-use of the word damn come from?!”

“You do it too now you know.”

“It’s been two kriffing days.”

“It’s all Asajj’s fault.” Xan tells her, Arl raises an eyebrow, “When they chose her, Mic and Mace said in no uncertain terms that we were to watch our language around their Padawan or we would not be able to speak for a lack of tongue.  So everyone tries not to swear, then Obi kept accidentally saying ‘damn’ and it caught on and now it’s honestly a compulsion.”

“So basically, Obi’s a moron who can’t follow simple damn instructions and now we are all stuck in his shit?”

“Yep.”

“Makes sense.”

 

The next day the three walked into the meeting room and saw most of the group sitting there along with Valorum.

“Chancellor, I wasn’t expecting you to join us.” Arl says with a polite bow.

“Yes, I apologise for my abrupt departure yesterday but there was something I had to deal with, the death of a former-Senator for instance.  I actually wanted to ask something about that but I shall be waiting for Master Windu and Master Kenobi to join us.”

“Well, that was fortuitous timing, are you sure you aren’t force-sensitive Chancellor?” Obi asks, Garen sniggers and looks at Arl.

“This is what we meant.”

“Oh yes, this is what we meant.” She agrees.

“What are you two talking about?” Xan asks quietly from his seat beside Arlie, she explains about their discussion on Obi-Wan’s flirting habits, he chuckles.  The three never sat together before but hey, who cares about unofficial seating arrangements in the face of a newly formed polyamorous relationship of love and acceptance?  Quin apparently.

[That’s my seat Garen.]

[Suck a lightsaber Quinlan.]

[Nice.] Quin says with a look at the other two and fist bumps Garen.

“Boys.” Arl mutters.

“Damn she’s here.” Obi says when he sits down.

“What did you expect Little Obi? That Coruscant had eaten her?” Qui asks, Asajj runs in and over to Arl closely followed by Mace, Mic, Clee, and Karr.

“One can hope.” Obi says shoving his face into his hands.

“Excuse me?” Arl asks offended and also afraid, afraid that her brother had agreed with Garen yesterday, Garen grabs her hand as Xan grabs her other hand.

“Hi Arlie.” Asajj says brightly, Arl releases her _boyfriends_ _’?_ hands and hugs her sister-padawan.

“Hi Asi, how are you?” the ten-year-old smiles.

“I’m good thank you!  How are you?” Arl smiles back.

“I am fantastic.”

“Did you and Schlau make up?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Good.  I don’t like it when people fight.  Those two do it sometimes and it’s not fun.” Arl lifts Asajj onto her lap, the little girl smiles happily as she gets comfortable.  Arl looks to her Masters with a raised eyebrow.

“We do not fight Padawan, we just disagree sometimes.”

“Loudly and vindictively.”

“That’s all Mace.”

“I am not vindictive.”

“You can be a bit vindictive love.”

“I am not!”

“Master you said yesterday that if he complained about your cooking one more time you would spend the rest of your life learning to make his favourite meal perfectly and when you finally got it right you would look him in the eye as you threw the perfectly good meal over the balcony.” Asajj points out, Arl’s shoulders shake with silent laughter.

“Well he complains he doesn’t want to cook and then complains about the food!”

“Yes because I wanted food not charcoal.”

“Then you bloody well make it.  Besides it’s not my fault the cooking implement is broken.”

“True.  But do you see the vindictiveness?”

“Wouldn’t be like this if you would just eat the damn food I put in front of you, Asi ate it.”

“No, you threw hers over the balcony as a demonstration of what you would do with my favourite meal when she declared she was going to raid the commissary.”

“Oh yeah…hang on aren’t you meant to be on my side?”

“See what I mean?” Asajj asks Arl who was almost crying from the effort of not laughing out loud, she nods.

“Ye-ep.”

“Okay, if we could bring this to order, we were discussing the situation last night…” Garen begins when Mic snickers. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s completely inappropriate and irrelevant, just go on.”

“All right then, we mentioned before that we need to assign a team to this.  I believe we should have a member of each sect put on it given the importance of this, along with regular updates given directly to the high council.  I don’t mean to micromanage but I think we can agree this is too important to be as thrown together as the last undertaking those in this room attempted.”

“Hey that worked out well.” Bant defends.

“Yes and it took four or five or wait no four…or five…an un-kriffing-certain amount of years that we do not have this time.” Garen explains.

“Seven, Garen.” Xan informs him, he smiles.

“Seven years we do not have, Shadow Master Bordo has suggested Master Xanatos take the Shadow slot however apparently the reticent bastards have a system and something else needs to be…”

“Actually, it’s been done.”

“Kriffing how?! I’ve been with you literally every second since we spoke to Junie except when you got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!” Garen says indignantly.  The Shadows at the table smirk at each other. “You all enjoy this too much.”

“I’m just curious what you were doing in Xanatos’ bed in the middle of the night.” Terza says nonchalantly, Garen glares.

“Okay first he was in my bed, and second, _sleeping._   Or trying to, damn cabbage.”

“What?” Micah asks unable to keep the incredulousness out of his voice.

“So there was this cabbage war and…”

“I don’t want to know.” Mic says changing his mind.

“We were doing so well at not going off topic, let’s not lose it now.” Bellan requests, they all agree.

“Okay so, it has been magically decided that Xanny is the shadow, what about the others?” Garen asks since no one had disagreed with having one of each involved.

“I think we need to keep it in this room, no sense having mass panic.”

“Or tipping our hand on what we know.” Aayla adds.

[We know that Arl, Dooku, and I make a great team, we cover the main three, and we can bring young Xanny in to our team for this at least.]

“[Young?!]” Xan sputters, Arl rubs circles into his back.

“Oh it’s okay, if it helps, they’re young too…speaking of younglings…where’s my former Padawan?” Arl asks looking around the room.

“He asked me to take notes and catch him up later.” Mace tells them, she looks at him in concern, he smiles, “I know that look, every Master has had that look when they think their Padawan is in danger, I assure you, my former-padawan, Yoda is well.”

“Thank you Master.”

“I have no disagreements with the proposed team.” Mic says.

“I am technically not an active member of the order.” Arl points out.

“Yes, Shadow Master Bordo asked I bring that up as well.” Xan tells them, the three sects share looks within their sects.

“You are of course welcome to join the Jedi.” Plo tells her sincerely, she smiles.

“As you are in the Sith as well.” Dooku tells her, Qui-Gon and Garen nodding as well.

“The Custos is open to you as well, and you know, since you are basically an inactive founding member anyway…” Micah says.

“Hey that’s cheating!” Mace calls, Arl and Asajj laugh.

“It is not a competition gentlemen, let her decide.” Xanatos tells her, they look at him in surprise. “What? I’m a Shadow, I figured I’d play neutral body for this.”

“If none seem appealing to you, you could try your hand at High Chancellor.” Valorum offers only half-joking.

“I think I’d rather skin myself, but thank you for the offer Finnis.” She replies, he bows his head looking as amused as she did.

“Damn that’s a terrifying thought, Arl as High Chancellor.”

“I mean I know all the original laws, most of which haven’t been removed, I could totally use that against people constantly.”

“This is why we can’t take you places Arl.” Garen tells her.

“Because I am familiar with laws.”

“Because you enjoy breaking things too much.” Xan explains.

“We did once talk about having a sect within the Custos for people specifically trained to protect the Force.  Should you still believe it necessary, Arl could train people for that.” Obi suggests to the Custos who look to consider it.

“No decisions need to be made today, think on it, talk about it, we’ll get back to it in the next Council meeting.  For now, if the Custos will elect someone to join this team we can move on to the next issue.  That being how we handle the Maul part of the equation.” Xanatos says once again taking charge, no one disagrees.

“Not Tholme.” Micah says.

“Hey!”

“Well you don’t like half the team, a quarter is your former-padawan and then poor Xanny is just caught in the middle.”  Arl and Dooku don’t even pretend to be insulted, Arl smirking and Dooku looking smug as shit despite his face being a serene mask.

[Neither of you have helped that situation.]

[To be fair, I deafened you and he set you on fire, there was not much to work with.] Arl tells him, he has no argument for that.

[I don’t get it, you get along with basically everyone!]

[Yes, but as my boyfriend on Earth once delightfully informed me, not everyone gets along with me.] Quin laughs, Dooku’s shoulders shake with silent laughter.

“What did we miss?” Anakin asks, no one else had been paying attention to the situation.

[Just me falling in love with Arlie’s…would you call that an ex?]

[I mean he either thinks I’m dead or kidnapped or run off so, yes I would call that an ex.]

[Why are you falling in love with Arl’s ex?] Garen asks feeling very confused, even as Xan subtly grabs Arl’s hand, she squeezes it with a smile.

[Because he’s amazing.]

[Oh shut up, people get along with me!]

[Do they though?  Do they really?]

[I swear to god I will cut your fingers off, we’ll see how well you communicate then!]

[First my hearing, now my fingers…]

[I hate you.]

[I love you too.]

[Jerk.]

[Bitch.]

[Assbutt.]

[Idjit.]

[If you two are quite finished, can we return to the conversation at hand?] Xan requests, they both look sheepish, [Thank you.]

“Well if not me for impartiality’s sake then not you either Mic.” Tholme declares.

“Fair, Tahl is possibly not the best suited to this though.”

“Agreed, but honestly, I think Tholme is the best choice.  He’s a Master of the Force, he can be professional and work with his former-padawan’s partners.”

“All right, Arleia Skywalker, Jard Dooku, Quinlan Vos, Xanatos Du Crion, Tholme, you five have the case.  Shall we go with weekly council updates?” Mace asks, the five glare at him in tandem.

“He has a good point guys, suck it up and we’ll talk about it next week.  Now Maul.”

“Yes, if I may.” Siri requests, they nod but Terza interrupts.

“Actually, If I could interject real quick, should those of us not in the council leave?  Since the situation is no longer concerning us?”

“What I want to talk about after Maul will concern you all.” Xanatos tells her, she nods.

“I requested Chancellor Valorum attend this meeting because the Shadows have been discussing with the Senate and with Judicial the possibility of having anything Sith related or to have a believed direct connection to the force come under the Order’s jurisdiction.  Judicial has agreed, we have most of the Senate on our side, most recently the Naboo contingent joined our side after we dealt with Wrath.  All we need is for a representative of the council to address the Senate as a whole and bear witness to the vote.”

“What effect will this have on the order?” Mace asks looking serious.

[Not much, it just means that when these things happen, we do not need to get permission before acting.  Also, that we have a trial in the Temple for him and we choose the punishment should one be required, so long as it is within the laws of the Republic.]

Anakin’s comm chimes, he smiles sheepishly before looking at it. “It’s Master Penn, Masters.” He tells them.

“Go ahead and answer it Padawan.” Obi tells him, he does.

“Ani, is your sister with you by any chance?” Jey-Sahl asks, it’s surprising that there is no noise in the background, no chattering kids or anything.

“Yes Master, I’ll hand you over.” He tells her before chucking the device at Arl who catches it easily, both siblings ignore the dirty looks they get at chucking around the expensive equipment, Ani would just fix it if it broke anyway.

“Jey-Sahl, what can I help you with?”

“Have you seen Initiate Rastor?”

“No, is she missing?”

“No, she’s asking because she knows exactly where she is.” Obi drawls.

“Shut up Obi-Wan this is serious.  I’ll find her Jey-Sahl don’t worry.” Arl says before shutting off the comm, “You guys don’t need me for this do you?”

“We do actually, yes, but a missing child is far more important.” Mace tells her.

“If you guys need my opinion on something desperately just get those two to ask me through a bond.” Arl says gesturing to Quin and Dooku who nod, she chucks the comm back to her brother and heads out.

“Arl, she’s my friend, please find her.” Anakin requests, Arl nods.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 

“Hi there.”  Arl says, Rastor doesn’t even look up from where she is looking out over all of Coruscant. “Mind if I join you?”

“How did you find me?” Arl smiles as she sits beside the girl, they were at the top of one of the spires, the highest place in the temple save for the council chamber itself.

“I’m the force Rastor, I can find anyone I please, the trick is it being the right version of them.”

“So how did you know it was the right version of me?”

“Instinct.” Arl says, then she ducks her head, “And this may have been my third stop.” The girl laughed with her. “Master Penn is worried about you, so is Ani.”

“I’m sure they are.”

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Rastor seems to debate it for a while.

“Being in the creche, it’s just like the group home.  Everyone my age is being picked by people, I’ll age out in two years.”

“And it will be like when no one chose to adopt you from the orphanage.” The girls nods with tears in her eyes.

“You know I was a slave when I was a kid.” The girl snorts.

“Which time?” Arl chuckles.

“Actually, the first two…stupid G.  Anyway, I got sold from my home when I was five because I got picked out, then taken from my new owners because my kidnappers picked me out, force knows why…bad choice of words.  But you know who didn’t pick me?” Rastor finally looks at her, a curious glint in her eye, “My Master.”

“What?” She asks confused.

“Force-willed training bond, he couldn’t exactly say no, though at times I am sure he wanted to.”

“You willed your own training bond?”

“Yes and no.  I did not make the choice but subconsciously it was me that did it.  See, I can’t process all of reality at once, if I am aware of something it is because I have specifically gone looking for it.  Everything else is kind of like autopilot, I set the course and it flies on its own.”

“So, it was your power that did it but you didn’t specifically decide to.”

“Exactly.” Rastor is quiet for a while, Arl waits.

“I had a family, sort of.  They found me abandoned in the snow when I was a baby.  I wasn’t their kid, more like a family friend that stayed with them, grew up alongside their kids.  But they were the closest thing I had to family.”

“What happened?” Arl asks, Rastor starts fidgeting with her hands, Arl reaches out to hold them, the girl smiles up at her briefly before looking back out at the skyline.

“I went out exploring a forest, and when I came back they were just gone.  The house was barren, the furniture broken from old age.  I couldn’t explain it but it was like they were never there.  I stayed with a neighbour until the news came, it wasn’t age that broke the furniture, it was some ruffians from the next village.  My world turned upside down because they got bored.  I was angry, so angry.  It wasn’t long before the neighbour and I got into a screaming match about ‘my behaviour’, I went for a walk and didn’t walk back.  Eventually I ended up in the orphanage.  So, I guess I got picked too, a few times, just not when I needed to be.  But I don’t have some ‘unconscious force’ to give me a Master, I am, as has become standard, alone.”

“You don’t need an unconscious force to give you a Master, you can get one from your own merit.”

“You really think so?” Rastor asks anxiously, Arl smiles.

“I really do, besides, you may not have an unconscious force, but you have something better.”

“What?”

“A conscious one.” Rastor’s eyes go wide. “They are going to reactivate me within the order, though how has not yet been decided. When that happens, I will be able to take a Padawan…if you’re interested?”

“B-but you’re the force!  You’re going to train me to use you?”

“So, it won’t be a standard padawanship but it’ll be an adventurous one.  Just think, Master Yoda will be your brother-padawan.” Arl says, they both chuckle though Rastor’s eyes are still widened.

“Are you just taking pity on me?” Arl looks mildly affronted.

“No, I don’t pity you Rastor, I respect you.”

“I hope you realise that that doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

“You care, you are inquisitive by nature, and you don’t let the bad overpower you.  Many faced with what you have been would have taken a darker path.”

“You wouldn’t have.”

“There are some things that were left out of that biography Asi put together. I have a less than perfect record for dealing with things.  Actually, my mistakes have just come back to bite all of us…Or did it…?”

“What do you mean?”  Arl hesitates, “If I am to be your Padawan then you cannot hide things from me so you can forget that notion right now.” Rastor says stubbornly, Arl smiles and nods.

“Fair enough, thousands of years ago I had a son.  He and I did not have the best relationship, I did not realise how bad until yesterday when a journal entry of his was found.  The entry spoke of the entity we are currently searching for, the one wreaking havoc that the rest of the temple does not yet know about.  But I don’t know that anything he did is actually still at play.  Besides the creation of the Sith and Jedi.”

“Then why do you look so worried about it?”

“He said that they would not know why they existed until it was too late.  It just makes it sound like they’d still be fulfilling their purpose, I don’t know I’m probably just being paranoid.”

“It’s not paranoia if they’re really after you.” Arl chuckles and nods, “Can’t you just find out?  Don’t you know _everything_ anyway.  Or can if you choose to?”

“I tried to keep my power as far from my son as I could, pulled away from him as much as possible without him ceasing to exist.  I’d have to undo that.”

“Yeah, I feel like giving the founder of the Dark Sith more force-sensitivity is not a wise decision.  Well what if he did something to them that was somehow going to continue through the training or something? I don’t know it sounds stupid.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time an army of people that were fighting with me turned against me.”

“Your life is weird.”

“You have no idea, anyway, that makes me really nervous so I’m going to bring it up with the others.” Arl says standing up, she hesitates as she sees the girl look sad again. “You coming?”

“What?”

“Well, it was your idea, besides if I can’t hide it from you then you may as well be present.  Keeps you out of the creche a while longer.” Rastor smiles widely.

“All right, I’m in.” She says grabbing Arl’s offered hand to get up.

 

“You aren’t my father Mace!” Arl hears Obi yell from behind the closed door of the meeting room.

“Okay, catch me up.” She requests of everyone when she and Rastor walk in, “Oh and Ani can you let Jey know I’ve got her?”

“Sure.” Ani says and steps outside to do so before coming back in.

“So, Maul will be our responsibility, Mace is going to represent the council.  Obi and Mace had an argument over whether or not Wrath’s possession of Sheev should be made public in order to clear Sheev’s name.”

“Why are you arguing over that?” Obi glares at Mace who is looking entirely unapologetic.

“Because Uncle Moo Moo seems to think allowing everyone to continue thinking of my father as a murderer and a Dark Sith is a good kriffing idea.  Father deserves better than that.”

“Mace?”

“If the possession becomes public knowledge then Obi-Wan may be arrested for killing an innocent man.  Sheev wouldn’t want that, I am sure he would rather his memory be tainted than his son be imprisoned.”

“I _did_ kill an innocent man.”

“You couldn’t just twist the truth a bit?”

“Lying to the senate is not an option Arlie.” Rastor tells her from the seat Arl gave her, opting to stand behind it and lean on the head of the chair.

“So give them the truth then.  He may not have been in control of himself but the body had just killed a man, would have killed you too.  It was self-defence.”

“That works.” Mic says impressed.

“Did it occur to none of you that perhaps I don’t want to get away with killing my father?” Obi asks viciously.

“Oh it occurred to all of us, but unlike you, we are thinking of your Padawans and what would happen to them.  Not to mention everyone else that cares for you.” Arl replies harshly. “Is it not the job of a Jedi to make sacrifices for the sake of other people?”

“You have no idea the sacrifices I have made for other people!  My father should never have been one of them!”

“I’m sorry are you really about to complain to _me_ about making sacrifices?”

“YOU’RE THE FORCE WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? ALL YOU KNOW IS HOW TO RUN AWAY!”  Arl looks for a moment like she’s going to yell back before she centres herself again.  Arl walks over to Obi, pulls his chair away from the table slightly in order to whisper in his ear without anyone else hearing.  She said two words, just two words before walking back to her place. “Perhaps it is better if we just don’t tell the public any of it.”

“What the hell did you say?” Garen asks her, Arl smiles.

“Simply made him aware of the final variable.”

“Okay, now that that has been tabled, we need to talk about what to do with those gaining memories.” Siri says, “Reeft dreaming, Mace hallucinating, Anakin…memory flashes?” He nods, “These memories supposedly aren’t good, is there anything we can do to block it or something?”

“We also need to consider that for Mace and Anakin, what would happen if this happens in the field?” Terza adds.

“I would assume shit would hit the fan.” Anakin mutter quietly, Obi glares at him, he rolls his eyes.

“You know you were nicer at this age in the other timeline.”

 ** _“Must be extended exposure to you._** ** _”_** Anakin thinks to himself accidentally sending it down the training bond.

“I heard that.”

“Oops.”

“I can take the memories away again as they come or make Mace forget the hallucinations, but unless we work out what’s causing it I can’t stop it from continuing.”

“I’d rather my memories not be messed with.” Mace tells her.

“Same here.” Ani says, Reeft nods in agreement with him.

“I do think we need to ground all three of you for the time being.” Plo tells them, they agree though Anakin pouts…actually so does Mace.  Idiot.

“We should also keep track of the things you are remembering, the triggers and such.  Hopefully we can prevent you from remembering certain things.” Obi-Wan suggests, Arl nods.

“Probably won’t help me since I’m doing the same thing every time.” Reeft points out.

“If you want me to stop having memory flashes of terrible times the temple is probably out completely and I’d rather not leave my home so…” Anakin tells them.

“Most of Mace’s terrible shit wasn’t even _in_ the temple.” Obi reminds her.

“True but meetings he could hallucinate from here even though he wasn’t here because of the projection.  But more importantly, not everything he has seen has been things he was present for.  He wasn’t in here when Grey died but he saw it.”

“So, unless I stay in a broom closet and away from everything else, I’m screwed?” Mace asks.

“Yeah you _really_ don’t want to be in a broom closet, you’d be better off on Geonosis or in the fucking…actually now that I think about it, don’t go to Valorum’s office.  Or the Creche. Or the Council Chamber.” Arl tells him, “Actually Obi if we think of the worst things and then just get the both of them to avoid those places it’s probably going to save a bit of pain at least.”

“Unless they start being triggered by something that isn’t anything to do with location.” Garen chimes in.

“Um, it already has.” Anakin admits reluctantly.

“I thought you were going to keep me updated?”

“Yes and I was going to tell you as soon as we were done here.”

“Forget that Ani, just what happened?  What did you see?” Arl asks before they could start fighting.

“I was talking to Padmè this morning and I remembered an attack on her life.”

“You are going to have to be more specific.” Obi says, Arl snickers, Anakin glares at her.

“Sorry, inappropriate, people just try to kill her a lot.”

“I do not look forward to remembering that.”

“Price of helping people, especially during a war when you can’t trust anybody.”

“When we saw her for the second time and we were using her as bait, when you jumped out the window.”

“Okay first of all, _you_ were using her as bait, I very clearly remember not liking that plan when I heard of it.  And secondly, I didn’t just randomly jump out of a window…”

“Not that time.”

“Anakin.”

“I just mean you seem to dislike doors, that’s all I’m saying.  And the easy way of doing things.”

“Yes and you dislike plans, and rules, common sense too.”

“Well I may not remember all that much about the other timeline yet but whatever I learnt, I learnt it from you.  So, you’ve no one but yourself to blame.”

“Oh really.”

“Yes really.”

“Boys!” Arl calls, they both turn to look at her.

“Sorry Arlie.” They both say.

“Reeft, in case it effects your dreams, listen as well.  None of you go near the creche or the Senate Dome.  Stay the fuck away from the council chamber Mace and Reeft, too late for Ani but you know…maybe stay away anyway.”

“Don’t look at the dome either, hopefully none will ever remember that lizard.”

“It wasn’t a lizard Obi-Wan.”

“I don’t care what it was it nearly killed the Chancellor!”

“Yes we owe it a Kriffing fruit basket not eternal hatred.”

“Oh yeah…”

“Idiot.”

[What fucking lizard?] Quin asks, Arl and Obi look around the room and see mega confusion.

“Just…just stay away from giant lizards, unless your commander is aiming a rocket launcher at you, then big lizards are helpful.”

“I don’t want to know.” Mace says putting his head in his hands.

“Only other place I’d suggest staying away from is…well here.” Obi says, Arl nods.

“Now they tell us.” Reeft mutters.

“A war was run from this room, I assumed you’d think of it yourself.”

“What about the healers?” Rastor asks, the room turns to look at her, “Well you mentioned a war.  I wasn’t here for the information week people talk about but, wars tend to have wounded.”

“Most of the soldiers would have been treated on Kamino and Jedi would have been on a medical station closer by but…it never hurts to be careful I suppose.” Arl says agreeing with her, “Good call Rastor.”  The girl smiles proudly, Anakin gives his friend a thumbs up.

“Okay, moving on from this now since we cannot do anything, we need to work out who this other entity is. Then we can stop these memories and/or hallucinations.” Tahl tells them, they nod.

“Come now guys, we all know what it is.” Garen says suddenly, everyone looks at him, he stands up and puts his hands on the table. “It’s pudding.” Micah groans and puts his face on the table.

“Not this again.”

“Did you just say ‘pudding’?” Bant asks, Garen nods looking completely serious.

“You cannot trust pudding Bant, I mean come on.  Is it a solid?  Is it a liquid?  I don’t know, does it?”

“I honestly cannot tell if you are kidding or not.” Dooku tells him.

“Pudding is the anti-force…oh that’s a good name.”

“Okay, so aside from that, what else could this pudding be-uh, this entity be, could it.  I mean, what else could this entity be.” Siri asks stumbling after all the talk of pudding.

“The pudding could be…um…I don’t actually know.” Arl admits.

“I’m sorry are we actually referring to this thing as pudding now?” Mace asks incredulously.

“Better than ‘The other entity’.” Bellan says.

“Beg to differ, anti-force was a good name.” Valorum says.

“But very presumptuous, we don’t know that it has anything to do with Arl, anti or otherwise.” Bant tells them.

“I think I know what it is.  Or at least, a lead.” Karrya says suddenly, everyone looks to her in surprise. “Well, what Arl said while she was in a coma.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.” Bellan admits.

“What are you talking about?” Reeft asks.

“Right, a few of you weren’t involved yet.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Arl asks, Karr looks at her in surprise.

“You don’t remember?  But I thought you remembered everything from your coma.”

“Well um…it’s possible that it wasn’t everything.  I definitely don’t recall waking up but doing so would have taken an immense amount of energy, I may have blacked out.”

“You didn’t wake up.  You spoke to me in a dream.”

“What did I say?”

“It’s coming.  Beware the dark. Not a beast, something more. It’s dying.  The force, not a beast, something in the dark, it’s coming. The weakness found him, he’ll unravel it all, stop him. The dark is coming, not a beast. He’ll unravel it all, the dark, not a beast, not a beast, nothing will survive.” Karrya recites with her eyes closed, she opens them again, “Except with more pauses and you were having trouble speaking.  Then you convulsed and started screaming.”

“Then Karr started screaming, gave me a heart attack.” Terza tells them.

“Not a beast…something in the dark…” Arl says to herself.

_A face, a face she can_ _’t quite see, it_ _’s there, staring at her with sickly yellow eyes, it_ _’s climbing out of the in-between and it_ _’s angry.  She_ _’s seen those eyes before, so hauntingly familiar it made her shiver with the knowledge that she wasn_ _’t the one in danger._

“No…the beast it…I can’t…what’s…” Arl says clutching her head, Quin and Dooku are there in a second grabbing her arms and getting her into the seat Garen vacates for her.

“Arl, leave it alone, back away.” Dooku tells her, she doesn’t seem to hear him.

“He died…I killed him…gods I killed him.” Arl says, at this point they were all fairly certain she had next to no idea what she was saying.

“Arl come back to us.” Dooku pleads.

“A face, a face I can’t quite see, it’s there, staring at me with yellow eyes, it’s climbing out of the in-between and it’s angry.  I’ve seen those eyes before…so familiar, I know, I’m not the one in danger…not that me, not a beast, not a beast…he’ll unravel it…nothing will survive…” Arl says before passing out, Quin catches her when she falls forwards and cradles her against his chest.

“Wait we did talk about this, remember, she was scared.  Literal non-existence, remember?” Garen asks.

“Vaguely…what is going on with memories?” Terza asks.

“I don’t know, first I can’t remember Naboo, now we’re all struggling to remember a fairly serious event.” Obi says.

“She said before that she thought she’d killed someone, the last time this happened remember?” Dooku says, then signs it again to Quin when he turns his attention away from Arl.

[Yes, when she first mentioned a beast.  So, there was something, she thought it was a beast, only it’s not a beast, we think it’s non-existence, so then what?  She made him not exist?  Isn’t that just taking him into the in-between?]

“[I don’t know Quin, only she has the answers and for whatever reason, it’s blocked.]”

“Okay well wait, let’s just take a step back.  Arl doesn’t remember sometimes because she’s the force and it fucks with how she perceives things, what if we used that to our advantage?  Have her try to access the knowledge she needs, not through her memories like a human, but through the force?” Obi asks.

“You’ve spoken to her about the block before, so long as she doesn’t try to break past it she’s fine, so we start with that.”

“Oh that was NOT a nice feeling!” Arl says loudly as she jolts up right before grabbing her head and swaying in her seat as though dizzy, Quin steadies her, she seems to blink it away and then she’s okay.  “Sorry, form couldn’t take a consciousness, I got booted, I’m back.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” Owen says, she smiles.

“That’s because I’m dumbing it down for everyone else.”

“I’d be offended but I never understand a kriffing word you’re saying anyway.” Mace admits, Arl smiles.

“I did listen in on the conversation though, also it occurred to me that it isn’t my brain.  I got a new one, it’s my soul, my memories that is blocked.  I tried to look for it as the force but I found nothing, there’s only one thing that can make me find nothing.”

“Pudding.” Garen concludes.

“Anti-force.” Valorum corrects.

“ _Whatever_.” Arl tells them both.

“We had a theory that this thing, this beast or not-beast, could be how you were perceiving non-existence.  Or the threat of the impending end to existence.” Garen tells her, “Could that be what pudding/anti-force is?”

“Great now I’m hungry, thanks Garen.” Obi says testily. “Pudding and celery, that’s what I’m eating after this.”

“That is disgusting.” Anakin tells him.

“Yes, please don’t eat that in front of us.” Owen requests, Obi pouts.

“Fine, I’ll eat alone then.” Qui frowns confused but notices the sad look on Obi’s face and decides the why doesn’t matter too much as long as he’s happy again.

“Don’t worry love, I’ll eat with you.” Obi smiles blindingly.

“Okay, moving on from your weird brother, what do you think Arl?” Xan asks.

“Well I’ve never tried pudding and celery but…”

“I meant about the theory not the snack!”

“Oh, it seems like a bit of a stretch, I mean where did you even get it from?”

“You were afraid, when you were telling Karr about it.  It was the only thing I could think of that you are afraid of.  Besides birds, small spaces, on occasions the dark despite every other time being completely at ease, and submarines.” Arl shudders.

“What’s a submarine?” Asajj asks.

“And why are you afraid of birds?” Rastor adds.

“It’s a fucking death trap and because…well…I’m not, it’s uh, it’s complicated.”

“Moving on.” A dark voice tells them, Arl looks up in confusion.

“Oh no…” Others turn to look, though some had at the same time, but all see Sohn looking back.

“It’s been a year…oh wait, this happened last time, when Karr first spoke to Arl.  You were afraid but you never told us what of.” Bellan recalls, he snarls. “This is why I said I needed to know, you could be past it by now if you’d tell me what triggered you.”

“It’s the dark.  You don’t spend prolonged time in Wrath’s company without coming away with some fear of things you cannot see.” Anakin tells them, they look to him in concern, “Sorry, I just, remembered something.”

“I’m sorry Ani.” Obi tells him, somewhat relieving people and concerning them.

“It wasn’t you that reminde…”

“No, I don’t mean that, I’m sorry I failed you, that you ever became…him.”

“You didn’t fail me Obi-Wan.”

“How do you know?  You don’t even remember.”

“I know because you love me, you loved me then and you love me now.  You never do anything unless you do your best, especially when it’s me.  You did what you thought was right at the time, which means what happened was not your fault.”  Obi smiles.

“Thank you brother.”

“It’s impossible for something to _be_ non-existence, isn’t it?” Bellan asks deciding to deal with the Sohn thing in Obi’s next session with her.

“How can there be existence without non-existence?  It’s like Arl’s son said, there has to be a balance.” Mic reminds them.

“The in-between.  Arl you said it was a place of nothing between two somethings.” Dooku remembers.

“Yes, it’s, it’s complicated.  But non-existence is really just a lack of any type of energy.  It’s interesting that you mention the in-between though.  My Mentor told me that while we are in there we do not exist, but we are energy so being in there should make there be energy and therefore the non-existence is surrounding us yes, but we still exist.”

“Maybe she just wasn’t being pedantic?” Xan offers, Arl smiles mockingly at him.

“I asked her what an in-between is when we first met, she told me ‘There are universes beyond our own that run parallel to ours.  No one should be able to cross them but I have friends in high places.  The in-betweens are the spaces that don’t quite exist that separate these universes.  This one stands between our universe and one that doesn’t have a name, but the galaxy closest to this point in a complicated relative sense of no distance but infinite distance is called the milky way.’ So naturally I asked how that can be, how could it not exist if we are there.  She said ‘Ah and there is the crux of the matter, your perception determines your reality.  Do you remember how I told you this place was trying to make it easier for you to perceive it?  Well it can’t be processed by your brain because it isn’t exactly here.  It’s a place of nothing between two somethings and therefore doesn’t quite exist but also can’t not exist.’”

“Okay, I take it back.  You asked the question but she didn’t really answer it.”

“I got the answer I needed at the time, I need more now.”

“Can you ask her? I mean we just went to another timeline to ask other-Ty a question.” Siri points out, Arl looks thoughtful as she places her elbows on the table.

“She was three months old at the point in our perception of time that she first pulled me out of.  Things are complicated but from that point I had thirty years to fix shit, I needed to make the Jedi ready to evolve by that point in time.  I am the force now and I know what I was talking about when I told her all this so it’s all okay now but, my point is she is from another timeline that never came into fruition that I lived.  So I have no idea where to find the version of her I need.”

“She’s not going to have any clue in this timeline?” Tholme asks, Mic snorts.

“No, she’s seven Tholme.” Arl says before anyone could question Mic’s reaction.

“So was Quilo when you first met.”

“True, but very different situation Obi.”

“Who’s Quilo?” Rastor asks.

“My former Padawan from the war in the other timeline.”

“Oh, I suppose you must be looking forward to her being here again in a few years.”

“Thirteen years at the very least before she could be my Padawan again, plus, just because I took her as my Padawan in another life, doesn’t mean I will this time.  Situations were very different, she may find someone better suited.”

“So, your mentor?”

“Madam Force-seer from this timeline would know nothing.” Arl says to answer Tholme’s question.

“I still can’t believe you called her that.” Dooku says with a chuckle.

“Well what would you have called her?”

“By her name.”

“She didn’t give me her name.”

“Did you ask?”

“I don’t remember…”

[In any case, if you can’t ask ‘Madam Force-seer’ then what do we do?] Quin asks, Arl smirks.

“I think you are all forgetting that everything she learnt she learnt from me, she would have no answers for us anyway.”

“The truth of the matter is, no one but Maul and this other entity has the answers we seek.  We don’t have enough information to guess about or find this other entity or anti-force or pudding or whatever, so I suggest we find Maul instead.” Mace tells them, Arl is thinking hard on something and scratches her head before laying on the floor and looking up at the ceiling.

“What is she doing?” Owen asks, no one seems to know.

“Thinking.  She’s thinking.” Tahl says after a moment.

“The beast.  It’s not a beast.” Arl says after a few minutes, she instantly has everyone’s attention. “But if it’s not then what am I seeing in my vision.”

“What vision?” Mace asks.

“It may be easier if I show you…” Arl tells them, looking around she sees agreement from everyone though Karr looks unsure but still willing.  She may not be officially part of the order but she is definitely force-sensitive and has been adopted by all anyway.  (Didn’t I dislike her?) Arl thinks to herself, (Deal with it later…unless I had a reason for it and so she shouldn’t see this…Dammit I don’t even know…)  She looks around at everyone before her eyes settle on the table, (I am not alone.) She reminds herself before falling back on the person she’s been relying on since she was seventeen-years-old. **_“Master, how much do you trust Karr?_** ** _”_**

**_“Padawan, I grew up idolising Dooku, I knew a lot about him that in some cases I probably shouldn_ ** **_’t have.  Yet the entire time he was a Sith in hiding, I don_ ** **_’t trust anyone save for you and Garen._ ** **_”_ **

**_“What about Mic?_ ** **_”_ **

**_“*sigh* Ask me again tomorrow.  For now, I trust Karr enough for this._** ** _”_ ** Arl nods to herself.

“Here we go.” She says aloud before broadcasting her recurring vision to everyone in the room.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_A face, a face she can_ _’t quite see, it_ _’s there, staring at her with sickly yellow eyes, it_ _’s climbing out of the in-between and it_ _’s angry.  She_ _’s seen those eyes before, so hauntingly familiar it made her shiver with the knowledge that she wasn_ _’t the one in danger._

_‘You knew this would happen!_ _’ Obi yells standing in the middle of the council chamber, he_ _’s looking directly at her as she sits in her council chair._ _‘You did nothing! Again!_ _’_ _‘Sacrifices must be made for the greater good._ _’ She replies even as he watches her in horror,_ _‘He was your brother_ _…’_ _‘Some people cannot be saved._ _’  As she finishes the words the windows of the council chamber are shattered, fire from the explosion entering even as the glass rains down around them, she grins manically, finally, after years of waiting, her plan is in motion and the Jedi will fall._

_‘I_ _’m trying to save you dammit!_ _’ Dooku yells over the noise of a building falling down around them,_ _‘I_ _’d rather die than join you!_ _’ she yells back from under the pillar that_ _’s fallen on her._ _‘We were your family and you betrayed us!_ _’ she yells ignoring the tears filling his eyes._ _‘I_ _’m sorry._ _’ He whispers before leaving her there to die,_ _‘COWARD!_ _’ she screams._

_‘I loved you._ _” Garen says as he holds her, his lightsaber through her chest, she can_ _’t breathe.  Blood is pouring over her purple armour as Garen takes the baby from her pliable arms.  Water begins rising around her as he walks away.  Some part of her knows help isn_ _’t coming._

_That face is haunting her, hunting her, it is her._ _‘You should never have come back!_ _’ She yells._ _‘I know._ _’ She says, and she does._

 

“Holy damn!” “Arl how have you never mentioned this?” “How long have you been seeing this?” “What the hells was that?” Everyone starts talking at once until Arl merely holds up a hand and they all go silent.

“We need to brainstorm and attempt to understand this, yes, but we do not need chaos.” She tells them all making them feel like misbehaving younglings.

“Well, I suppose my first question is, has any of this actually come true?” Tahl asks, Arl nods surprising everyone.

“None of that, but there were two other situations that used to be there, only both have now occurred and I have not envisioned them since.”

“You are the force, how can you not interpret a force vision?” Rastor asks confused, Arl looks annoyed.

“It is not from me.” She says, “It merely very successfully impersonated me for many years.  It gave me a vision I had no way of knowing was not from the force, just as it has done my son. I really hate when things mess with my head.” Arl says, all but snarling the last part.

“We can’t trust any of it then.” Valorum tells them, Arl makes a face saying she kind of agrees and kind of doesn’t.

“I mean, there is no doubt this was pushed into my head to mess with me somehow, but it _has_ been coming true.  Of course there is always the possibility that that is exactly what I am supposed to be thinking, but then again there is always that possibility of me supposed to be believing that as well.”

“I cannot keep up with this.” Bellan complains, “Also, Master Mace, are you okay?” Everyone turns to look at the man in question who is sitting with his eyes trained resolutely on the table directly in front of him.

“Yes.” He responds tersely.

“It is happening again, isn’t it?” Obi-Wan asks, though really it was more statement than question.

“Yep.”

“What is it you are seeing?” Plo questions, Mace cringes before looking up at them.

“The effects of war, Plo, I am seeing the effects of war.” He says, his voice getting softer as the sentence went on, Obi-Wan and Arl exchange worried looks, there was so much of the war they desperately hoped he’d never see.

“All right, let’s be logical.  Yellow eyes, familiar to Arl, and make her believe she is safe but everyone else is in danger, and they’re angry.  How many things could that possibly refer to?” Terza asks as she glances at Mace in concern.

“Well, honestly there is only one I can think of.” Arl admits, Obi-Wan snarls, “I know Little Obi, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.  I’m the only one he refused to hurt.”

“You mean me, right?” Anakin asks worriedly, Obi shakes his head.

“No Ani, she means Vader.”

“We are talking about a future event Master, which means it _is_ me we are talking about, this version of me.”

“Anakin, even if Vader does ever come into existence in this timeline, it will not be you, just like it was not in the other.  It is merely Wrath warping your mind.” Arl tells him calmly, except the words only seem to get him more worked up.

“Wrath is dead Arleia.” He says flatly, She and Obi-Wan frown as his meaning becomes clear to them, “Besides, are you even sure that is what happened before?”

“What are you talking about?” Bant asks, Ani sighs.

“Just because he spoke to me in this timeline, does not mean he did in the other.  From everything you have said and the few things I’ve remembered, it just doesn’t seem like you have any real idea what happened to me.”

“I know you brother, you would never be a Dark Sith.” Arlie tells him, “I believe in you and I trust you.” Anakin smiles at her like she just gave him the perfect opening.

“I know, and I believe and trust in you as well, yet I also do Obi-Wan.” Everyone seems confused before Obi grimaces.

“All right, fair point.”

“Like hell it is!  He broke your mind to do that!” Bellan cries in outrage, Ani holds his hands up in a placating gesture.

“I know Bellan, I know.  But he did not control it, nor did he actively mess with it in anyway other than regular old torture.  Which is horrible, and I understand that, I am only trying to make the point that other-me turning could have been caused by things other than Wrath’s influence.”

“Why are you saying this kid?” Mic asks, Ani takes a deep breath before pulling himself up to his full height and looking at them all with a maturity that makes little sense coming from a nine-year-old.

“I am saying this because we do not know why I turned, therefore cannot rule out the possibility of it happening again and the conversation in that vision occurring.  Just as we do not know why Tyranus turned and thus cannot be certain that that part of the vision will not happen as well.” He tells them, holding eye contact with each of them briefly to ensure he was heard, “Furthermore, we do not know what might happen to turn Arl against the Jedi.” Many go to protest but he merely holds up a hand, silencing them, “I know, it is not a thought we would like to face, and I realise I am a mere Padawan, a child no less, and I have lived through no great battles or other timelines or any such nonsense.  But I, along with every single person in this room, have seen in one fashion or another, that anyone, and I mean _anyone_ , is capable of truly horrible things in circumstances that push them to it.  We cannot simply disregard any of that vision on the basis of trusting a person, there is only so far good will and morals will go before it all breaks and snaps under pressure.  Everyone has their limits, even the force.”

“What do you suggest then?” Mace asks after everyone spends a few quiet moments digesting his words, he swallows as he sits back in his chair and tones down the control he seemed to have over the room.

“I suggest that we proceed with care and not be fool enough to rule anything out, including a possible scenario in which Vader could exist again and have the intention of hurting Arlie.  Or, alternatively, there is another timeline or universe she may end up in, in which some other Sith or corrupted being means everyone else is in danger save for her.” He tells them, they all nod hesitantly.

“Did anyone else just feel paranoia levels in this room skyrocket?” Asajj asks, Mic grimaces as Garen nods.

“Maybe we need to instead be looking at people who _do_ wish to cause her harm.” Xan suggests earning a few confused looks. “Well we have been working on the assumption that some powerful being wants to destroy the force, but what if it is Arlie they want gone and her being the force is irrelevant?”

“I do not know any being powerful enough to do so.  Let alone having pissed them off enough to warrant all of this.” Arl replies, Mace seems to ponder something for a moment before speaking up.

“It does seem to be messing with you.” She raises an eyebrow at him, “Well, two of the people you are closest to begin remembering things or being shown things you would really rather they not.  Does not sounds as though or and Reeft have ever been particularly close but, his dreams do appear to have a profound effect on you.” He explains, Obi nods.

“You did say yourself that people remembering the other timeline was the absolute last thing you wanted, I wondered at the time if that were more relevant than it seemed.” Asajj mentions, Arl frowns.

“If their wish is to cause you harm or distress, they have certainly gone about it the right way.  They have been for a very long time.  It can be no coincidence that it was _your_ son to have received that vision millennia ago.  Reeft is dreaming what may well be the most traumatic moment of the war for you save for Vader, who is remembering it all.” He tells them, Owen looks to Arlie.

“It does make sense really, a truly devastating memory is brought back up, presumably by the one who caused it, the one you wished to protect from the memories the most remembers it directly, and the one you fear judgement of the most sees it playing out from the outside, the perfect place to give judgement.” Owen says, Arl looks deeply disturbed. “So, following this pattern, what would come next? If someone wished to hurt you in such a way.”

“I assume they would target my family next.” She says tiredly after a moment of thought. “The only family outside the order I have are Mum and Dad.”

“Well that is not necessarily true.” Dooku tells her, she raises an eyebrow at him, “Wrath may not have had the power to hurt him Arls, but this entity just might.  And it seems as though it wishes you to suffer before it destroys you.” She sighs.

“If it wished me to suffer hurting him is not the way to go about it.”

“Because you do not care for him or are you merely saying that because you wish you did not?”

“No, because there are far simpler ways to go about it, I am not nearly as strong as you people seem to believe.”

“You held up under direct torture from Wrath for eight months Arl, I’d say that is pretty strong.” Anakin tells her before seeming surprised at his own words. “Oh gods.”

“Oh no.” Arl says with worry as she regards her brother, Obi-Wan looks at her in horror.

“What?” He asks in an incredulous whisper, he had wondered what happened in the time she was gone, this had foolishly not occurred to him.

“Vader killed G, Wrath saved Vader from me, captured me, and tortured me.  I think the more pressing concern is that he remembers that.”

“No, the more pressing concern is that you did not mention it.”

“What would you like me to say Obi-Wan?  That Ani is wrong?  That I was not strong?  That I lost my damned mind in that place?  Because believe, I went absolutely crazy.  I think I smiled more in my time there than I have my entire life, all three of them.  And in my death.”

“What do you mean ‘there’, you were kept in the cells of the Temple?  Literally tortured in the damned council chamber!” Anakin asks in confusion, Arl facepalms.

“Wasn’t going to mention that.”

“You seem to be rather adept at not mentioning things.”

“If I were to sit down and tell you every horror I have experienced it would take a longer lifetime than anyone here has left.  Moreover, I do not wish for you to know.  It may have slipped your notice Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I am quite fond of all of you, and would much rather you all live in blissful ignorance than know everything that has happened to me.”

“To live in ignorance is to pretend half a situation does not exist.  Is that not exactly what you hated about the Jedi Order for fifty years?” Obi-Wan challenges, Arl sighs and leans more heavily on the back of the chair Rastor is occupying.

“Do you know what the second worst part of the war was for me Obi-Wan?” He seems confused but shakes his head, “It was reading those reports you so loathed writing.  Knowing every bad thing that happened, knowing it was over and that I was powerless to do anything after the fact.  I once believed knowing everything no matter how bad was the only way to live without naivety. Now I know that that belief was what made me truly naïve, because I would have given anything to not find out every bad thing that happened to the people I cared about, and know it was too late to stop it.  I would not wish that upon anyone, let alone my own brother.”

“What was the first?” Asajj asks quietly.

“The what?”

“You said that was the second worst part, what was the first?” Rastor clarifies, recognising what Asajj was asking, Arl smiles sadly.

“Being the one to send my friends to face their deaths, or worse.”

“Most people would ask what can be worse than death at this point, it’s sad that no one in here has to.” Owen comments.

“You never did answer the question though, who would want to hurt you like this and what would they do next?” Valorum questions when no one speaks for several moments, Quin hits the table to get people’s attention.

[It just occurred to me, these are all rather personal things to know about you.  It’s clear that there are ways to get that kind of power, proved by our force friend here, so if we momentarily ignore the power restraint, who has that kind of information on you that would wish to hurt you using it?] He signs, everyone looks thoughtful as though it had yet to occur to them.

“They would also most likely be from the other timeline and we know it is not Wrath/Sidious.” Bellan adds, Arl nods.

“That does significantly shorten the list.” Arl admits.

“Remembering that A, someone could have messed with their minds somewhat, and B, not ruling out scenarios we believe unlikely but are still possible given the right circumstances.” Anakin adds, Arl nods.

“I mean, no offence, but my first thought is you Obi-Wan.  You fit all the criteria save for knowledge.  You didn’t know about the circumstances surrounding Reeft and Bellan’s death.” Arl says, Obi nods.

“Could Wrath have told him while he was with him?” Dooku asks, “Simply to cover all bases.” He says when the man in question sends him a rather irate look.

“I am not targeting Arlie!”

“Well as Anakin has made clear, we cannot trust that of anyone, besides, we are talking of the you from the other timeline.  You may have his memories, but you are not him. If he were to have somehow gained power and travelled back here himself or some such nonsense, and your mind was warped somehow, it _is_ possible.”

“Wrath did not know, the only ones who knew were in the house with me at the time.” Arl tells them, Obi-Wan tenses up.

“Arl, was Quilo one of those people?” He asks apprehensively, Arl looks at him in annoyed disbelief.

“You do not seriously think my Padawan, my Twenty-one-year-old Padawan, is doing this?” She asks, anger growing.

“We can’t rule anything out Arls.” Anakin says.

“Arlie, she grew up.  Without you, I might add.  She was angry you abandoned her, sure not enough to do this but…” Obi trails off, Arlie gives him an expectant and pissed off look.

“If you are going to sit there accusing my Padawan of such atrocities, you had best give me a reason, and a damn good one.” He sighs.

“You may not have been the only one keeping things secret to save a sibling pain.” He admits, “She ran off a week after I returned to Tatooine from my foray as a Sith Apprentice.  I never saw her again.”

“Shit.” Arlie says under her breath in annoyance.

“Look, I know how hard it is to believe your Padawan could turn against you, believe me, I know.  But we have to consider the possibility that Wrath found her.  Or she ended up on Dathomir or hell, Korriban itself.  Any number of things could have influenced her into losing her shit, she certainly had the grounding.  She grew up in war time, watched her sister be murdered, one of our own destroy us all, then you run off, I go missing, come back crazy, Mic is forced to leave to protect everyone and then she runs off on her own.  God knows what happened after that.”  Arlie walks to a wall and braces herself on it, leaning against it with outstretched arms, facing away from them all.  She takes a few deep breaths, no one speaks for a good few minutes before Arl finally turns around.

“No matter what I think or how I feel about this, Anakin is right, we must take all possibilities into account.  However, all of this is assumption, we need to know for sure.  I will run down this lead, you have a team that needs to focus on finding Maul and the device.  If you need to contact me, Mic knows how.” She tells them nodding to Mic who looks confused for a second before understanding dawns on his face.

“One more thing before you go Arl.” Valorum says, she nods for him to continue, “How sure are you of this device’s purpose?”

“I know it exists and that it has the power to destroy me.”

“The power but not necessarily the ability.  That may not be its purpose.”

“What are you talking about?” Garen asks, Valorum looks antsy as he answers.

“It is like Owen said, there are things far worse than death.  If this Quilo wishes to make you suffer, then creating a device to destroy you is rather counter-productive, isn’t it?  Even knowing it would destroy all of us too, well you would not have to live with that knowledge for long.”

“It is something else we should look into.  I will do what I can from my end, but I am afraid when it comes to this device, you are largely on your own.” Arl tells them gravely before white light fills the room, and then she is gone.

“I think I managed to forget how dramatic she can be.” Obi-Wan muses, Mic laughs.

“She would be offended if she ever heard you say that.”

“Okay, I think we can probably say dismissed at this point and leave the team to deal with this.” Garen tells them, everyone agrees and so all those but the aforementioned team file out.

“[So, tracking down Maul, do we know anything about him?]” Xan asks the group, Dooku nods.

“[He’s from Dathomir, he was a nightbrother, all but a slave of the nightsisters.  Wrath took him from there when he was a child to be raised and trained into his most successful Apprentice.]” He tells them, they look surprised, he smiles in a shy and sheepish way none have seen before. “[I sort of, picked him out…]” He admits awkwardly, Tholme facepalms before fixing his former Padawan with a face that clearly conveyed his thoughts on their partnership, Quin glares.

[We may be able to use this to our advantage.] Quin signs rather suddenly.

[How so?] Xan asks, Quin looks as though he is taking care choosing his next words.

[We can go undercover to Dathomir, send one of us and Ty, we would likely gain more information than members of The Order of The Force demanding answers on an old clan member.]

[We may need to get help outside this group, whoever goes cannot be a Jedi nor a Custos, and Ty is our only Sith.]

[Garen isn’t doing anything important, it could be a good experience for his training?  I don’t know how Sith work.] Dooku smiles slightly in amusement at his partner’s words.

[I can talk with my former Apprentice, I’d rather Anarch than dragging Garen into a potentially dark situation, one does not merely bring an inexperienced Sith to a planet like Dathomir and expect them to come home again.] He tells them, they all nod in agreement.

[I will requisition a ship, you speak with Qu…Anarch, we will all go but those of us not Sith will remain in the ship.] Tholme tells them, Quin’s face lights up at the use of Qui-Gon’s true name, though he schools it before Dooku notices.

 

They split afterwards, Dooku heading towards his Apprentice’s room and hitting the door chime.

“Ty!” Karrya exclaims happily when she sees who is at the door, immediately ushering him inside, a quick look around the room reveals no Qui-Gon however Obi-Wan was more than enough to capture his attention.

“Are you actually eating pudding and celery?” Obi-Wan looks defensive, mumbling something under his breath as he uses a stick of celery to spoon pudding out of the bowl. Dooku shakes his head in exasperated bewilderedness, “Is your father around?” He asks Karrya who shakes her head.

“He went out to buy some melon thing that Obi decided he _had_ to have.” Karr says with a gentle teasing smile to the man in question who looks sheepish before returning to his snack, Dooku raises an eyebrow but leaves the subject alone, recognising he would only get an irritated and defensive response to any questioning.

“Aaaand he found it.” Qui-Gon announces as he enters the quarters, Obi-Wan brightens significantly at that. “Master.” Qui-Gon greets with a bow which Dooku returns, largely on autopilot.  He was nervous about this trip to Dathomir and what it may entail for him.

Qui-Gon goes to the kitchen, quickly cutting up the fruit and bringing it to his lover who kisses him passionately. “Thank you Love.” Obi-Wan says, finally releasing him.

“Anything for you my Heart.” A rather flustered Qui replies before straightening up and clearing his throat. “Now, Master, what can I help you with?”

“Yes, right.  I have to take a trip to Dathomir and was hoping you would accompany me.  There were some concerns about the Jedi and Custos giving away the rouse.”

“What rouse?” Qui-Gon asks confused.

“He’s going to pretend to be working for Wrath again to get information on Maul from the Nightbrothers.” Obi-Wan tells Qui-Gon, both men look at him in surprise. “Well, why else would _anyone_ go to Dathomir?  Pit of fucking gloomy doom.” He says, muttering the last bit with no small amount of bitterness.

“Not a fan of the planet, Grand-Padawan?” Dooku asks, Obi-Wan shakes his head.

“Stupid Ventress, stupid Maul, and Talzin, and Magic, and damn energy bows, and seriously what is with that?”

“Did you just say Ventress?  As in Asajj Ventress?  She’s from Dathomir?” Qui-Gon asks, Obi-Wan looks surprised.

“You didn’t know that?”

“Obi, I don’t think _she_ knows that.”

“Probably for the best.”

“And that is your decision to make, is it?” Dooku asks of him in a confronting manner, Obi-Wan looks at him in sudden anger.

“You want to be the one to tell a ten-year-old that she was born on _that_ planet?  How well do you think that will go down?  How many memories will it bring up?  How long will the nightmares go for?  How long before she resents the fact that you ever told her?  No, what she does not know, in this case, cannot hurt her.”

“Until she finds out you were hiding part of her past from her.”

“Well she is not going to find out, is she?” He asks challenging, Dooku holds his gaze for a moment before nodding his acquiescence.

“Very well.”

“Anyway…I am afraid I cannot accompany you, however I believe Schlau is rather aimless at the moment, beyond fretting that is.”  Qui-Gon tells his Master who nods.

“Yes, admittedly your Apprentice’s name came up first, however I am wary to bring him to Dathomir, new as he is.” Anarch gives him Master an appraising look before nodding seemingly to himself.

“Tell me Lord Tyranus, is your reticence to bring him because he is inexperienced, or because you still worry that introducing him to too much darkness will make him regret his choice to join the Sith?”  Dooku cringes almost inperceptively, it is true that he has always been worried about the boy’s decision, whether or not he really felt he had a choice given the circumstances.  It did suit him, and he had enjoyed his training, but as of yet has not been on any true mission as a Sith.  Dooku worried he’d realise the Sith truly are evil and hate them all for making him do it, worse still, he worried the boy would be unable to re-join the Jedi.  Dathomir would be a critical point in his training.  He may be considered a Sith Lord, but this mission would expose him to certain aspects of the Sith way of life that he had not yet encountered.  Dooku firmly believed that it was at this point, there would be no turning back. 

“You are far too wise for your own good Apprentice.” Dooku tells him with a serene smile, he then bows and takes his leave, heading to the newest member of his lineage’s quarters.

 

“Lord Tyranus.” Garen greets when he opens the door to see his Sith Grandmaster on the other side, Dooku smiles.

“Garen, I’ve come to ask a favour.” Dooku says, unsubtly dodging the use of Garen’s Sith name as he had been doing since he earnt it.  On occasion Dooku would use it, but he was still far too antsy about the situation to make full use of it.  Garen had noticed and politely ignored it, quickly recognising that it was not a slight against him, but Dooku’s own insecurities borne of hiding his true-self for so many years.

“Of course, please, come in.” He says stepping aside, the older man enters with another smile. “What can I do for you Fore-Master?” Dooku shifts awkwardly, the action surprising his subsequent-apprentice.

“I need you to understand something before I ask, I need you to know what the consequences of accepting will be.” Garen narrows his eyes at his Fore-Master.

“Not the best way to begin asking for a favour but, you’ve certainly caught my interest.” Dooku chuckles at his words, relaxing slightly as he does, which was Garen’s hope.

“Helping me would mean you reach the point of no return.  You do this and it is very unlikely you would be able to be a Jedi, or renounce the darkness at all.  Force knows I certainly couldn’t.” Garen looks at him in surprise.

“You tried to go light again?”  Dooku nods.

“After what happened with my Master, I suppose I saw why the Jedi were always so afraid of the Sith, why they felt them evil.  I was afraid I would become that, I honestly wished I could take back every decision I had made in the previous few years, but I could not.  For all my trying, I could not even call upon what we then perceived as ‘the light-side’.  It took me a long time to work out how to be a Sith whilst also maintaining my soul.”

“How did you?” Garen asks curiously, hoping he wasn’t overstepping.  He didn’t think even his Master knew of the things Lord Tyranus was currently revealing to him.

“I sought help, the only place I felt I could.  I went to Korriban, I learnt our ways from the Sith of old.  As it turned out, they were far less corrupt, far more reasonable.  Of course, there are some who had lost their minds by that point, but the sane ones, well some as you can imagine were just like Wrath.  I was lucky and found a Lady of the Sith as disgusted by my former-Master’s actions as I was.  She taught me of what the Sith used to be, what they should be.  She taught me the difference between us and the Jedi, even teaching me how to hide what I am from the Jedi to protect me.  She taught me more than Wrath ever did.”

“Who was she?” Garen asks, absorbed in the story, there was something that Dooku wasn’t mentioning, something just outside his comprehension.  Dooku smiles slightly, as though the mere thought of this mysterious Sith woman has brightened his day significantly.

“Her name was Darth Zannah.” In this moment Garen realised what it was he had missed, Dooku loved Zannah, though Garen was unsure if it was romantic, familial, or worshipful love.  “She was once the Apprentice of Darth Bane, and Master to Darth Cognus.” Garen’s eyes widened.

“Well damn.” He mutters, Dooku chuckles again. “So, this favour.”

“There is one more warning I wish to give you.” Garen nods for him to continue, “There is no turning back from this point, but more importantly, you have little experience fending off this type of darkness, and none in embracing it.  That choice will be a defining moment for you, but more importantly, it could be the difference between coming home, or being lost to us forever.”

“Then what am I to do?” Dooku smiles sadly.

“That, I am afraid, you must decide on your own.  How one handles darkness is different from every other and it must be you who decides how to do it.  It is the final step to becoming a true Lord of the Sith.  The knowledge you gain about yourself will forever serve you and dictate the rest of your life.”

“So it’s like a right of passage?” Dooku nods, Garen looks thoughtful, “Are you so worried about this because you think me unready?  I know you feel my Master rushed my training, and I know you worry about the decision I made.”

“It is not that Garen, I just don’t want you to do something you cannot take back, only to wish that you could.”

“I made my decision Lord Tyranus, I will not take it back.” Dooku looks in his eyes and sees the steely determination, but also acceptance of his warnings.  He had listened and truly heard him instead of brushing him off, Dooku nods.

“In looking for Maul, we believe the best starting point will be the planet Wrath took him from.  The entire planet has been corrupted by the actions of those inhabiting it, it is steeped in a kind of darkness that neither myself nor Lord Anarch ever dare use.  We agreed that my pretending to still be under the tutelage of Darth Wrath will be the best way to gain information, however Tholme does not want me going in alone and bringing a Jedi or Custos with me would give the game away.”

“With all due respect my Fore-Master, if you are so hesitant for me to accompany you, why not ask Lord Anarch?”

“I did.” Garen looks surprised.

“He turned you down?”

“Yes, I believe it has something to do with his mate’s strange behaviour, but that is a fairly baseless theory.”

“A fair one though, anyway, so where are we going?” Dooku looks unsurprised by his immediate acceptance of the mission, but still unsure, Garen sighs. “Have you ever been in love?” His Fore-Master seems surprised by the abrupt question but shakes his head.

“I do not believe so, no.” Garen smiles.

“Ty, honestly, I respect your words and will heed your warnings, perhaps I am even a little nervous.  But when it comes down to it, until this device is dealt with, Arl cannot truly come home.  I will do whatever I have to do to make our ‘level of existence’ safe for her.”

“This, dear subsequent, is why I hope I never do find myself in that position.”

“You do not want to be driven to do stupid things?”

“No, I have never known myself capable of that level of self-sacrifice.”

“Well, I suppose we may one day find out.  Honestly though, I believe that day may be closer than you think.” He says with a grin, “Now, you never did tell me where we are going.”  Dooku jumps on the conversation change, unsure what to think of the younger man’s words.

“Dathomir."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 

It had not been hard to acquire the ship, by the end of the day the team plus Garen were on their way to the darkened planet of Dathomir.

[Are we there yet?] Quin asks, Dooku rolls his eyes.

[No Quinlan, just like we have not been the last fifteen times you asked.] Quin pouts.

[But I am bored!]

[So find a way to entertain yourself!]

[You could entertain me?]

[And I suppose you have something specific in mind.] Dooku says glancing over to the co-pilot’s seat, Quin smirks at him.

[Oh, I can think of a few options.] Dooku blushes slightly, quickly returning his gaze to the window ahead of him.

“[You guys realise we are still here, right?]” Garen asks, poking in through the gap between the chairs so that Quin could see him signing.

[What?  Want to join in?]

“QUINLAN!” Dooku yells indignantly, and though he had forgotten to sign, Quin knew exactly what he had said, doubly over laughing.

“At least he is entertained.” Xanatos pipes up from his seat near the cockpit door.  Despite there being a cargo bay as well, Tholme was the only one not currently in the cockpit.

“I still don’t see why I couldn’t fly.” Garen complains, Dooku rolls his eyes.

“I am surrounded by children.”

“Hey, what did I do!?” Xanatos whines, Dooku facepalms.

“Nope, I am leaving.” He tells them, engaging the auto-pilot before leaving the cockpit, Garen immediately sliding into the pilot’s seat “You break this ship and I break you Muln!”

“I won’t break the ship my Fore-Master.”

“Fore-Master?” Xanatos asks his life-mate as Quin exits the cockpit after Dooku.

“Sith version of a Grand-Master.”

“What’s the Sith version of a Grand-Padawan?” He asks curiously, he keeps being surprised by the depth of culture the Sith have that he is completely ignorant of.

“A Subsequent-Apprentice, affectionately called a Subsequent.” Garen replies with a smile.

“I’m glad you’re a Sith you know.” Garen looks at him in surprise, people were proud of him for his ‘sacrifice’, and Mic tried to be happy for him knowing he was happy, but none had been glad about his choice.  He knew many in the Order still felt he betrayed them, even more so than Anarch and Tyranus.

“You’re…glad?” Xanatos nods.

“You are happy, and I can see you love it.  I am glad you made that decision, glad that you did not allow the adversity you knew you would face to stop you doing what was best, not just for the order, but also for you.” Garen leans over and kisses him.

“Thank you Xanny.”

“Anytime my Dear.” He replies with a smile, caressing Garen’s face with his hand before Garen sits back and continues flying the ship.

 

[Is there a reason you are following me Quin?] Dooku asks when he notices Quinlan following him out of the cockpit.

[Yes, I want to talk to you.] Seeing the serious expression, Dooku stops and turns, giving his partner his full attention.

[About?] He asks when Quin makes no move to continue.

[How do you feel about Arlie?  About our mission and everything else that’s been dumped on us?]  Dooku didn’t think that was what he wanted to talk about but decided to humour him.

[Arlie was the first person I got close to since before Qui-Gon was knighted, when she died it crushed me.  I was worried I would close myself off again, and unsure whether I truly thought that a bad thing. I am glad that she is still around in some fashion, happy for her in a way given the power she now possesses.  But I am worried for her, she seems very lonely, I hope Xanny and Garen help with that, but one day they will die and she will be alone again.  She knows that, and that worries me too.] He answers, Quin nods in agreement, [Our mission, well, we have been unsure of how to proceed with the situation pretty much since Arl’s coma, I am glad we are making some progress even if I do worry about what this mission will bring.] Quin looks nervous. [What do you think of it all?]

[I am worried about Arl but glad she is back, she just does not seem okay and I feel like anything we do to help is temporary, it’ll die when we do.  I suppose I am worried about this mission as well, it should seem minor really, I mean we are hunting a Sith to destroy a device that could kill us.  Put like that and it is not so much of a big deal.]

[But?] Dooku encourages when Quin hesitates.

[But…I think, I mean, I-I don’t know what I mean.  Something is coming, something big and something bad and I do not think we can stop it.] Quin signs quickly, clearly distressed, Dooku pulls him into a hug, surprising them both.

 ** _“Whatever it is, we will face it together, all of us_** ** _”_** Dooku tells him through their bond as he holds him.

**_“Why didn_ ** **_’t you close off?  After Arlie died I mean._ ** **_”_ **

**_“I had this pushy partner intent on making me face my grief, refusing to leave my side until he felt I would not suddenly disappear from the temple the way I did for many years._** ** _”_** Quin pulls back with a shy smile on his face.

**_“I suppose he may have been afraid of losing both his partner_ ** **_’s at once._ ** **_”_ **

**_“He needn_ ** **_’t have worried about that.  Even if I had closed off, I do not believe I could ever have really shut him out._ ** **_”_ **

**_“I imagine that is comforting for him to hear._ ** **_”_ **

**_“I suppose I will make a habit of reminding him then._** ** _”_** Quin smiles at him, he smiles back.  Then Dooku realises he is holding Quin’s hands between their chests, awkwardly coughing and pulling back slightly to put a more polite distance between the two of them, dropping his hands. Quin looks sad before composing himself and smiling again, only appearing slightly forced. [Quin…] Dooku starts before Quin shakes his head to cut him off.

[Don’t worry about it Ty.] He says brushing the other man off as he moves to walk back into the cockpit, Dooku grabs his arm as he walks past.

[I am about to have to play the part of a darkened Sith on a planet where the inhabitants are probably still angry about me kidnapping one of their clan, a child no less.  It is one of the reasons I was so hesitant to bring Garen, I will no doubt have to defend myself whilst proving to them I speak the truth and that will not be pretty.] Quin raises a hand to his face with a kind smile before signing one-handed.

[You are an idiot.] Dooku raises an eyebrow, truly shocked by his words, Quin chuckles. [I do not call you Tyranus to make you feel better.  I do it because it is your name, your chosen name for your chosen path.  I do it because my Partner is not a Jedi, he is a Sith, _you_ are a Sith.  I am well aware of who and what you are, of who and what you once were.  I knew what coming here would entail, it has never been me I worried about.  I am concerned about what this mission will do to you, but don’t worry for a minute about me. I will think no less of you for doing what you have to, to save reality.  So long as you do what you believe is right, or at the least a necessary wrong to do right, I will never be anything but proud of you and proud to be your partner.] Dooku smiles at his friend before frowning.

“Oh I am an idiot.” He says rather suddenly, Quin hadn’t focused on the force but having been ‘completely innocently’ staring at his mouth, managed to read his lips.

[What?]

[For all that I have been going on about exposing Garen to darkness, I forgot about something far more important.] Quin looks confused and honestly Tyranus was seriously considering strangling everyone.  Not one of them, not anyone on the council or the team, not Quin himself, nor Dooku had thought of the one reason this mission was a fucking terrible idea. [You cannot hear Quin.]

[Keen observation.] He retorts, Dooku is sure that had he been speaking, his voice would have been utterly dripping with sarcasm.  _Obi-Wan Kenobi_ levels of sarcasm.

[You are deaf because of the exposure to dark energies Quinlan!  Fatally sensitive to darkness and I bring you to Dathomir!]

“We’ve just dropped out of hyperspace.” Tholme tells them, poking his head out of the cockpit, both of them wondered when he had even gone in there, he’d have had to walk right past them.

“Fuck-all.” Dooku says rather irately, the other two look at him in surprise, Quin having caught the thought over their pair-bond.

“Xanny, your Master is dying.” Tholme calls back into the cockpit.  They hear sudden movement, then a curse and a thump, laughter, some sliding and scuffing before finally Xanatos appears in the doorway.

“What?” He asks using concern to cover his embarrassment, Garen was still laughing in the cockpit.

“You fell out of the chair, you actually just fell out of your chair.” Tholme says incredulously.

“Yeah, how I ever got knighted is anyone’s guess.” Xan replies, “Now what is this about my Master dying?”

“He just said ‘Fuck-all.’” Xan looks at his Master in concern.

“So, what?  Radiation exposure?  Has he eaten?  Is he starving to death?  Some brain altering viral infection?  A parasite?” Dooku rolls his eyes, translating through the bond to Quin who laughs suddenly.

“It occurred to me a moment ago that Quin cannot go anywhere near the planet.”

“[Why not?]” Xan asks, making sure to include Quin in the conversation, especially since it is concerning him.

[Sensitivity to darkness.] Quin replies before gesturing to his ears, Tholme looks concerned.

[I mean, you can’t lose your hearing twice, can you?] Xanatos asks, Dooku looks annoyed, Tholme facepalms, Quin rolls his eyes.

[No, but who knows what might happen.]

“[Especially if by some miracle Maul has returned home]” Garen adds as he leaves the cockpit to join them.  Quin shuddered.

[I really didn’t think this mission through.  I think perhaps when we return to Coruscant I will pull myself from it.  The last thing you need is me having a panic attack at the sight of him when you finally do track him down.]

[And in the mean time?  Do we book it back to Coruscant, drop you off and then come back?] Garen asks, Quin shakes his head even as Dooku nods. [Awkward.] Garen comments when the two glare at each other, obviously arguing over the bond.

**_“Quin, you could die!_ ** **_”_ **

**_“We cannot delay this mission Doo!_ ** **_”_ **

**_“Like fucking hell we can_ ** **_’t._ ** **_”_ **

**_“Tyranus, we are talking about the fate of the entire blasted galaxy!_ ** **_”_ **

**_“No!  We aren_ ** **_’t! We are talking about_ your _life!_** **_”_ **

**_“If there is something to find here, leaving only enables Maul to cover his tracks._ ** **_”_ **

**_“Quin_ ** **_…”_ **

**_“No Ty.  I will not allow him to get away, the device to be used, Arlie killed, and this other entity destroying all of creation because I decided I was more important._ ** **_”_ **

**_“DAMMIT QUINLAN I CANNOT LOSE YOU TOO!_** ** _”_** Quin looks at him in shock, reaching up and wiping his thumb across Dooku’s cheek, Dooku is just as shocked when his thumb comes away wet and he feels the smear of the tear on his cheek.  He furiously wipes away any other stray tears as he turns to face away from the others.  Quin puts a hand on his shoulder supportively.

 ** _“If we do not do this, you will lose me anyway.  I will lose you, everyone will lose everything.  We would be condemning Arlie to death.  Please, for me, suffer through this for me.  I will pull myself from this mission as soon as it is over and I will not leave the ship while we are down there._** ** _”_** Dooku tilts his head, a tight expression on his face, realising he has no other choice.

“Fine.” He says quietly, turning to face everyone again. “[We do the mission.  Just as we planned.]” Quin smiles at him gratefully, the others look confused, having no idea what happened, and move to prepare as Dooku goes to land the ship.

 

A few minutes later they had landed, Quin having fainted as they entered the atmosphere.  He woke up before Dooku walked back out of the cockpit, but was barely conscious.

“Dammit Quinlan.” He curses when he sees, Quin blinks bleary eyed at him.

“Let’s just complete the mission so that we can get him out of here.  You both get going, call us if you need us.” Tholme tells them, he nods at him, Garen passes him his cloak and the two leave the ship. Quinlan groans, rolling onto his side as his hands come up to clutch his head.

“I really hope this doesn’t take long.” Xanatos comments, watching Quin worriedly, Tholme nods his agreement as he sits on the ground, Quin’s head pillowed in his lap.

 

“So, what’s the plan?” Garen asks as he leaves the ship, following his Fore-Master’s example and pulling his hood up. Both were dressed all in black, channelling dark energy constantly so that their eyes glowed in order to fool the Dathomirians into believing they were in the service of Darth Wrath.

“You stand at my side, a silent shadow unless someone speaks to you directly, or challenges you.” Dooku replies shortly without looking in his direction, Garen nods with a slightly concerned look on his face.

“What do I do if someone challenges me?”

“Make like you are going to kill them and hope I get there quick enough to stop you.”

“And if you don’t?” Garen asks incredulously, Dooku gives him a sideways glance that told Garen all he needed to know.  Garen shivered, not from the cold, the darkness everywhere was as perverted as his Fore-Master had described and he was not really sure how to deal with it, though he doesn’t think he’s hit the pivotal moment that Dooku told him of yet.

They reach a small village, a while later, and immediately hear the sound of wooden staffs beating against each other.  Entering they see the nightbrother clan engaging in group sparring, Garen thought it seemed fun but wisely decided to keep that to himself.

“You!” One of them calls, immediately rushing Tyranus with his staff, Garen moves to intercept but a wave of Dooku’s hand makes it unnecessary.  The Zabrak goes flying off, immediately they are surrounded, the first Zabrak rushing over to join the circle.

“Now, we can be civilized, or we can be barbaric.  Either way, I need information and you are _going_ to give it to me.” Tyranus tells them calmly, Garen sees the difference, between this man and then one he’s grown up around, more importantly he sees why Dooku was so nervous about this mission.  Or at least, he thought he did, then the Zabrak’s attacked forcing Garen to defend himself.  Garen pulls his lightsaber out, slashing through one staff while he makes another explode with a shot of force-lightning.  The two Sith quickly make their way through, defending and never attacking, until the Village chief charges at Garen who instinctively lifts the man up, force choking him.

“Back off or he dies.” Garen orders the others darkly, a frighteningly gleeful smile on his face.

“Now, if you would just answer a few simple questions, none need die.” Dooku tells them evenly, none seem sure how to react.  In all honestly, Dooku was unsure how to react to his Subsequent’s actions, thus he chose to roll with it for the time being and have a talk with him on the way back.  Perhaps bring it up with the boy’s Former-Master if necessary.  The Chief attempts to speak, as he claws at his throat, but Garen’s hold is too tight. “Schlau.” Dooku says, the man in question look sideways at him before snarling and loosening his grip just enough for him to speak.

“What is it *cough* that you wish…to know?” The man struggles out.

“The location of Darth Maul.”

“You take him from us, turn him into something more twisted than the women of Dathomir, lose him, and then expect our help to find him?”

“Well, I do believe I asked.” The man glares at Dooku.

“You can kill us all Tyranus, we will not help you.”

“A pity.” Dooku tells him with a mockingly sad smile, “Kill him.” He knows he’s taking a rather daring risk, hoping that Garen will get his real meaning, but he knows this is the quickest way to do this and he needs to get Quin off this planet.  Garen starts tightening his hold again, it is only a few seconds before one of the other Zabrak’s runs up.

“Stop!” He calls, Garen looks to Dooku, who nods, so he loosens his grip again. “You are too late.  He is no longer here.”

“But he was?” Tyranus asks the man who nods. “Where did he go?” The man hesitates, Dooku turns back to Garen to tell him to continue when the Zabrak starts speaking again.

“Okay, wait, he left the village.  He went to meet with Mother Talzin, she’s the leader of the Nightsisters. I don’t know why, none of us do.”

“Can you take us there?”

“Those of us that journey there never return.” Garen looks at him sardonically before rolling his eyes, “It is true! My own brother disappeared years ago, he was just a boy.” Garen holds his hands up, deciding to leave it alone.

“If you come with us, perhaps we can find your brother.” Tyranus suggests though he knows it is not exactly ‘in character’.

“Why would a Sith help me?” He asks warily, Tyranus opens his mouth to answer when he notices Garen lazily spinning the chief around in the air, he swats him on the shoulder and glares to make him stop, he looks sheepish and stops spinning his prisoner.

“Because it helps us too.” He replies coolly, the Zabrak nods slowly.

“Then I will show you to their temple.”

“Schlau.” Dooku says commandingly, Garen obliges and drops the chief who crumples to the ground. “We appreciate your hospitality.” Dooku says dryly to the clan.

 

The three head off into the trees, following their guide, while Dooku comms the ship to check on Quin.

“How is he?” He hears Tholme sigh.

“Semi delirious.  He’s periodically forgetting that he can’t hear us, nattering away about random crap, keeps forgetting where he is and why, has asked for Arlie a couple times, and for you.” Dooku cringes, dropping back from his companions slightly.

“Hopefully this will not take long, listen, I need you to comm the others, ask Ben what he knows of Mother Talzin.” Dooku requests, being as vague as he can so that their guide does not realise who they really are.

“I will do so, is there anything in particular I should ask?”

“I’d take any advantage we can get at this point, I have a very bad feeling about this.” He says before he shuts off the comm and moves to catch up with the other two. “How far away is this temple?”

“It is an hour’s walk from our Village.” Tyranus nods while secretly worrying that an hour may be too long. “What is it that you want with Maul?”

“We want something and have reason to believe he has it.”

“So, you will not harm him?”

“So long as he cooperates.” Garen tells the man, Dooku glares at him, he looks unrepentant.

“Will you tell us of this brother of yours?” Dooku asks, the Zabrak nods.

“His name is Feral Oppress.” Garen notices Dooku stiffen slightly, only enough that someone who knew him well would see how tense he now was.

“Is that a common name?  Feral?” The man shakes his head.

“Only Feral I’ve ever heard of, whoever named my brothers and I did so while very angered I believe.”

“What is your name then?” Dooku asks, voice full of feigned curiosity, not that the Zabrak would notice the falsehood.

“Savage.”

“That does not sound so bad.” Garen comments, Savage’s lip quirks in humour.

“You should see how it’s spelt.”

“You said Brothers?” Dooku asks, Savage nods.

“Yes, Feral is my younger brother but I also have an elder.”

“What is his name?” The other man looks at Dooku, who Garen believes has begun to panic in earnest though he has no idea why, and smiles cruelly.

“Oh, I think you’ll know it when you see him.” He replies, just then they are attacked.  Surrounded by highly trained witches, Dooku realises they need help, activating the distress call on his comm with the force as he pulls his lightsaber and begins to fight.

 

“How is he?” Xan asks Tholme when he walks into the cockpit, two hours after the other’s left the ship.

“Asleep now, I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing but, it’s a thing.” He replies, Xan nods looking back out the window of the cockpit. “I’m sure he is fine Xanny, they are both highly capable Sith Lords.” He nods absently again, naturally that is when the distress beacon is activated, Tholme facepalms. “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”

“Sulk later, let’s go.” Xanatos says rushing out of the cockpit.

“Wait, what about Quin?” He asks following after the younger Custos.

“He’s not going anywhere, if he takes a turn for the worst there is nothing we can do for him anyway, but the other two? Them we can help, so let’s go.”

“Kriffing Shadows.” Tholme mutters, glancing to his former-padawan before running out of the ship to catch up with Xanatos.

Unbeknownst to them, a very different sort of shadow had been watching their every move.  As they run off into the forest, the shadow slinks aboard their ship, and chuckles as he closes the door.

“Some things are just too easy.”

 

“OW, you son of a fucking bitch!” Garen yells as he gets hit with whatever the hell they were getting shot at with.

“Schlau?” Dooku asks without looking away.

“I’m good.”  He says as he leans against a tree for support, being shot in the leg is not great for balance.

“Ugh.” He hears Dooku grunt from somewhere behind him as he fends off the energy weapons.

“Master?...Fore-Master?...Lord Tyranus?...DOOKU!” Garen yells, still receiving no response, he blocks a shot and turns, seeing his Fore-Master’s crumped form on the forest floor, he rushes over, still blocking shots. “My Lord?” He asks, but still Dooku does not move, investigating with the force, he realises his Fore-Master is dead.  Realising he is too vulnerable here, he moves further into the forest, attempting to make his way back to the ship.

He’s not sure how much later it is that he sees two figures running towards him and slows his sprint, ready to defend, only to see who they are.

“Xanny.” He cries in relief, embracing his lover.

“Schlau, where’s my Master?” Xan asks, pulling back worriedly.

“He’s dead.” Then a red lightsaber protrudes his body making him gasp, when the lightsaber is deactivated he falls limply into Xanatos’ arms.

“GAREN?!” Xan screams as Tholme rushes forwards to engage the attacker, Xan doesn’t even notice, crumpling to the ground along with his lover’s body. “NO!” He yells, “NO, DAMMIT, if Qui-Gon can come back then SO CAN YOU!” He says, tears streaming down his face, he looks up as he hears a thump, finally breaking through his grief.  Tholme is laying on the ground in front of him, dead eyes staring at him. “Tholme?”

“You should not have come here Jedi.” A female voice tells him, finally noticing his surroundings he sees himself surrounded by women in odd clothing, and one Zabrak male wielding his Master’s lightsaber.

“That, is not. Yours.” Xanatos bites out, snarling at the man who chuckles.

“Well, Tyranus is not going to get anymore use out of it, nor are you yours.”

“You have not taken everything into account, you see, I am not a Jedi.” He tells them darkly, falling easily into the darkness he once strived so hard to avoid.  He knew he shouldn’t, knew this was neither the Custos way nor even the Sith, but at that moment he only truly knew one thing, they were all going to die.

He pushed out in every direction around him, feeling bones break and shatter beneath his strength, he stood up, letting his power go loose as lightning was shot everywhere.  Trees splintered and exploded, leaves and other foliage combusting in a roaring fire, within moments, everything but he was dead.  Or so he thought.  Collapsing to his knees and pulling Garen’s body close again, he felt tears streaming down his face once more, then he saw the feet of a woman stop in front of him, he looked up and saw an old face, with weird symbols and a funky head dress.

“I am Mother Talzin, and these were my children.” She tells him, an odd mix between despair and rage, she reaches out and wrenches her hand sideways, his head following suit.  The pain and sound of bone snapping was the last thing he heard.

 

Quin snapped awake in an instant, feeling the death of his partner in the force, he lets loose a sob he cannot hear, looking around he sees a strange piece of machinery in the centre of the cargo bay, at the same moment he realises the ship is in flight and gathers that they are on their way back to Coruscant.  He rushes into the cockpit, desperate to know what happened to the man he’d barely admitted he loved, only just before he enters, he falls against the wall as he feels his former Master’s death as well.

“No.” He whispers, unsure why he spoke aloud.  It is suddenly very clear to him that whoever is piloting the ship, they are not a friend, then he senses it, a familiar presence that fills his entire being with terror.  Not even that terror is enough to override the sudden knowledge that all four of his companions are dead.  He storms into the cockpit, lightsaber at the ready, his target turns to face him as Quin focuses on him in the force so that he can ‘hear’ him speaking.

“Ah, hello favoured plaything.” The man says turning to face him, Quin glares.

“Maul.” He says uncaring of if it’s too loud or too quiet.

“I was hoping you would wake soon, no doubt you are aware your friends are dead.  A shame really, wasted talent always is but alas, those in my way must die.”

“Yet here I am, alive.” Maul sneers at him.

“Not for long.” He pounces at Quin who quickly manoeuvres out the door and into the cargo bay, giving the fight more room.

Lightsabers clash, slices, burn, the walls are a mess of hot metal from the blades hitting them, each fighter earning scores on their opponent, dodging around the machine in the centre as they do.

 ** _“So that_** ** _’s it, is it? That_** ** _’s your device to destroy the force?_** ** _”_**  Quin questions, transmitting the thought as Bellan had taught him, Maul seems confused at the method of communication but does not falter.

 ** _“Indeed it is. In fact, what a great idea.  What better time to use it?_** ** _”_**  He responds, forcing Quin away, when he runs back Maul slams the hilt of his lightsaber on Quin’s forehead.

Quin, dazed on the ground, gives Maul leave to grab the device, but Quin is not quite as out of it as Maul believed, running over and grabbing it from him.

“NO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He yells, Quin doesn’t hear him, only sees him shouting something.  They struggle over the device, Quin sparing a moment to think that if Arl had never died this wouldn’t be happening, of course on that train of thought his hearing back would be nice too.  Then Maul’s hand slips and presses a button and white fills the room along with both their shouts of “NOOOOO!”

 

“…ybe we will get lucky and Wrath will show himself again?” Quin hears Garen say…wait…he hears?  And Garen, he’s dead…only…isn’t Wrath dead too?

“Wha…?” Quin says, attempting to voice his question.

 ** _“Quin?_** ** _”_** Dooku asks through the bond, Quin jumps, sitting straight and opening his eyes to see Dooku looking at him.

“You’re alive!” He calls, immediately leaning over and hugging the man.

“What’s happening?” Asajj asks, wait, what’s Asajj doing on Dathomir?  Quin looks around ‘this isn’t Dathomir.’ He thinks recognising the conference room.

“I’ve no idea Asajj.” Dooku replies.

“Nor do I.” Quin tells the girl, still feeling the shock of actually being able to _hear_ her. “What happened?  I wasn’t here, we weren’t here!”

“What do you mean?” Arlie asks from beside him.

“Arlie?” He says turning to look at her, “When did you get back…wait…you…you’re…you’re young!  And your eyes are purple!  And…oh my gods, are you alive?!”

“Of course I am alive idiot.” She replies, he gasps.

“WHAT IN THE ENTIRE LIVING FUCK IS HAPPENING?! YOU WERE DEAD AND YOU WERE DEAD AND YOU WERE DEAD AND YOU WERE DEAD AND YOU ARLEIA SKYWALKER, WERE DEFINITELY FUCKING DEAD!” He shouts looking from Tholme to Garen then Xanatos then Dooku and then Arl, “Ah, shit, loud.” He says wincing and putting his hands over his ears instinctively.

“Quinlan, I need you to tell me what happened.” Arl requests calmly as everyone exchanges confused and/or panicked looks.  He sees Xanatos sitting in a wheelchair and knows something is very, very, wrong.

“Jesus Arl, what is the date?”

“3rd day of the 9th month 968ARR.”

“Okay, not time travel, which means something even fucking weirder is happening!”

“Vos, you need to calm down.” Micah tells him.

“DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! Argh, I need to think, how, how.” He says, now ignoring the others entirely. “It has to be the device, he pressed the button, something happened, something changed.”

“Quinlan what are you talking about?” Obi-Wan asks, Quin looks around the table again.  In attendance are Terza, Bellan, Reeft, Clee, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Karrya, Owen, Anakin, Mace, Micah, Asajj, Tahl, Bant, Yoda, Tholme, Plo, Xanatos, Finis, Siri, Garen, Depa, Adi, Aayla, Dooku, and Arlie.

“Okay, wait, hold up, if Arlie didn’t die, how did Qui-Gon survive the Battle of Theed?” He demands, Qui-Gon looks at him in confusion.

“Arlie brought me back. Remember, Master Yoda told us about his Master describing this happening?”

“That the force intervenes when one’s suffering is great enough but someone with a close enough connection to the force must be present?” Quin asks, Qui-Gon nods, “But…but Yoda didn’t say that.” He says sounding lost.

“Yes, he did.  Obi-Wan’s suffering was great enough but his connection to the force wasn’t.”

“Yeah but the suffering drew her and she did it!” Quin exclaims.

“She, who?  Arlie knew something bad was going to happen so she hopped on a transport and came over, found me dead and brought me back.”

“No! You aren’t listening!  This is wrong, this is all wrong!”

“Okay, Padawan, then what is right?” Tholme asks him, Quin feels tears prick his eyes.

“You were dead.  So was Garen and Xanny and Ty.”

“We are all right here.” Dooku tells him, he shakes his head, wiping tears from his eyes.

“No, I felt you all die, I felt _you_ die, don’t tell me I didn’t!  Maul was there and he had the device and did something.”

“What device?” Siri asks, “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned it.”

“What do you mean what device?!  The one we’ve been searching for!”  He looks around seeing confused looks, his eyes land on Arl. “Oh, of course.  You didn’t die, without that, we never would have found out about it.”

“Okay, let’s back up, something is clearly happening, now Quin, where did the changes start?” She tells him.

“Um, Xan’s in a wheelchair so, clearly, he did stab himself with Ty’s lightsaber.”  Both men flinch at Quin’s words, he looks at them apologetically, “Arl you saved him?” She nods, “Coma?” She nods, “Then what?”

“Then you all did your information week, my Masters took on Asi, Obi took on Owen and Anakin, and I woke up a few months ago.”

“Three, you woke up three months ago.” She counts in her head and nods. “Yes, I know that so well because when you apparently woke up, you died. Okay, so, what _do_ you guys knows about Wrath/Sidious, Maul, the-uh-Force’s weakness and the other entity.”

“What other entity?” Bant asks.

“Oh my god the ignorance.”

“Hey!”

“I didn’t mean you specifically Bant, just everyone in this room, so many things you don’t know.”

“That doesn’t mean we are stupid.” Arl says defensively, Quin rolls his eyes.

“Oh please, if stupid were a disease you’d all be dead.” Mace raises an eyebrow at him, he sighs, “Sorry, I’m confused and tired and still recovering from that damned planet and taking that out on you guys isn’t fair.  There is just so much you do not know.”

“How much can three months really change things Master?” Aayla asks looking concerned, Quin scratches over the scars on his face.

“A whole hell of a lot, I’m afraid, Padawan.” He responds before pulling himself together, he could panic and fall apart later, right now he had to get them all caught up or they were all dead. “Right, so, Force’s weakness.”

“Oh, yes, that’s easy, we know nothing.” Garen tells him, it’s then that he realises he’s sat beside Mic, and Xanatos is beside Dooku, Arl between Dooku and himself.  The three had not gotten together here.  What else doesn’t he know?  He has a lot to catch up on too it seems.

“You had that theory about it being literal non-existence remember?” He asks, Garen’s eyes go wide.

“I forgot about that.” Quin drops his head to the table.

“I forgot about the memory shit going down.  It was so unimportant for us but for you, it’s everything.”

“Why the difference?” Bellan asks, Quin sighs.

“We had a distinct advantage.” He tells them, “Now, someone said something about Wrath, he’s alive?”

“He wasn’t where you came from?” Owen asks in bewilderment, Quin shakes his head.

“He died on Naboo.”

“He got away from us.” Anakin says sadly.

“It wasn’t your fault Ani.” Obi-Wan reminds him, he nods but looks dejectedly down at his lap, Quin raises an eyebrow at Dooku who mouths ‘ask later’, he nods.

“Okay, so we have to deal with him, I’ve got to kill Maul, I am going to burn the entire planet of Dathomir apart and yes Obi, you can help, then we destroy the device and everybody goes home!” Quin decides cheerily.

“Why did you go to Dathomir?” Dooku asks even as Obi-Wan smiles at the suggestion.

“Looking for Maul.”

“Hold on, what is your thing with Maul?” Garen asks him, he squints.

“He had the device.  That was the thing, now I just fucking hate his guts.  For this, for your deaths, for all of it.” Quin says darkly, Dooku raises an eyebrow at him, “Quit judging me, we all have our baggage.”

“Of course, dear.” He says, Quin looks surprised at him.

“Oh shit.” Garen comments as he takes in the scene before him.

“Ty, are you and I, I mean, Are we…?” Quin asks awkwardly, Dooku looks terrified but nods.

“Were we not…?” Quin holds a hand out and tilts it from side to side.

“Ehhhhh.  We had been a casual thing but stopped and then Arl died and then some other stuff happened and then Dathomir came up and you were all panicky and guiltified and then a thing looked like it was going to happen after the mission and then…then you died.” Quin tells him, taking a deep breath to calm himself after the last bit, Dooku grabs his hand.

“I’m not dead.” He tells him, Quin smiles at him gratefully.

“Okay, what were we talking about?  You guys have a horrible habit of getting sidetracked.”

“Did other us get over that?” Valorum asks, Quin makes the same iffy motion.

“We had, but then some shit happened, and I mean we were on topic but went down tangents of related things before going back to the original topic.”

“Well that is a step up from this, perhaps there is hope for us yet.” Adi jokes, Quin smiles.

“You’re doing it again.”

“Oh damn.”

“So what were we talking about?” He asks again.

“We have to deal with Wrath, Maul, and this device that you still haven’t explained.” Asajj tells him, he nods.

“Right, so, The force’s weakness, I know what it is.” They all look surprised, “There is another entity of the same level of existence as the force, only we believe while the force creates existence, it does the opposite.  It has the power to give people visions that seem to be from the force among other things.” He tells them.

“Moo Moo has been hallucinating, could it be causing that?” Mic asks, Quin nods.

“While on the subject, Reeft’s dreams, Anakin’s memory flashes?” The two nod, “Okay, it’s doing both of those things.”

“Those things were not mentioned to the rest of us.” Obi-Wan says glaring at his Padawan, Quin facepalms.

“Can we focus on what is important please?  All of reality, a little secret between brothers, which is the priority?”

“We are talking about my brother and Padawan’s soul!”

“No!  We are talking about the fate of every living and inanimate thing and just everything!  I know you love Anakin Obi-Wan, I do too, he’s family, but not a one of us, nor all of us put together, is worth every reality.  All of existence Obi.”

“What do you mean all of existence? How’s that possible?” Depa asks, Quin looks at her in confusion before it clicks.

“Oh, right, of course, you do not know what the force is, do you?”

“You do?!” Arlie asks shocked, an emotion mirrored on the face of every being.

“All right, everything is energy.  We are all energy, that energy _is_ existence.  Now a very long time ago, and simultaneously it has never and will never happen because time and relativity and shit, someone died.  This energy pulled their consciousness into itself, giving it a mind, a personality.  That’s the force.  This other entity seeks to destroy the force, and it can do it, if it does it will destroy the energy that ties together…everything.”

“Shit.”


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 

“Shit.” Mic says, not quite sure how else to respond to that.

“But it can’t, energy cannot be created or destroyed.” Arl tells him.

“Then how did it get here to begin with?” She opens her mouth to respond before it snaps closed again. “Look, I do not understand how it works, only that it will.  I am no scientist, I am only repeating what…several, reputable sources have said, and everything that I know is second hand anyway since I couldn’t exactly _hear_ them.” This earns him confused looks.

“Why not?” Tholme asks confused and concerned, Quin looks at him, just as confused.

“Did we…as in the three of us,” He says, gesturing to Arlie, Dooku, and himself, “go back in time at any point?” Arl sighs and drops her head onto the table.

“No, it was mentioned and heavily debated, but eventually disregarded as blatantly ridiculous and unnecessarily dangerous.” Tahl tells him, he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I assume, based upon your reactions, that you did?” He nods, taking a deep breath and bringing himself back under control, standing tall to demand their attention and respect as he speaks.

“Yes, we did.  We got a lot of vital information from that.  We can go into that later.”

“Okay, so, if that energy is the force, what is the other entity?” Plo asks, Quin grimaces.

“Bugger if I know.”

“What?” Arl asks, he shrugs.

“We have a reasonable assumption of an identity, that we are in no way sure of.  We also do not know how they gained such power, in what form they now exist, or anything else.  Only that the only way the force can find it is if it and the force is in a specific form at the same time.  Something the force will not risk happening for long, or at all now because stuff has changed, and that we do not believe the other entity will at all.”

“How is it going to destroy the force then?” Plo asks.

“And why are we in the middle of their pissing match?” Obi-Wan asks tiredly, Garen looks at him in surprise, everyone else seems to have expected something like this.

“Um, I’m just gonna gloss over that and answer the question, because we wish to continue existing.”

“All right, cannot dispute that now can we.” Karrya comments, Quin nods.

“My thoughts exactly, now, this device was supposedly made to destroy the force.  I do not know if Maul changed it somehow, or broke it, or actually if I did, or if we just got it wrong, but that’s not what it has done now.  It seems to…alter reality somehow.  See I didn’t travel in time, but just before he knocked the button, I had been thinking that none of this would be happening if Arl had lived, and also that being able to hear would be nice.”

“So, it works telepathically?” Mace asks, deciding that the vague references to a loss of hearing should be addressed at a later date by either his mate, his partner, or his Master, Quin nods.

“It certainly appears so.  If I remember, I believe it quite likely that Maul will remember too and hang on, Doo, were we never a casual thing?”

“Is that really the conversation to have right now Quinlan?” He asks incredulously.

“Yes, it bloody is, this is important.” He replies completely seriously, Dooku still looks confused but shakes his head.

“No, we were never a casual thing.”

“And we never went back in time… Oh, Jesus fuck!”

“Well that was eloquently put, have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever used that before.” Arlie tells him, he smiles at her.

“I’ve missed you.” He says, she smiles. “Things have changed from before Arl even went into her coma, apparently it was working off my thought but Maul pressed the button and it was an accident so I’m going to go ahead and say something went wrong with it.  Anyway, okay, it does not matter for the moment.” Quin tells, well, actually more himself than the others. “Oh my god I don’t even know what is happening anymore.  Arl is supposed to be the one with all the extra freaking knowledge not me!”

“Don’t worry Quin, you’ll get used to it.” Arl tells him with a grin, he glares at her, then he takes a deep breath.

“Okay, so now I have no idea if Wrath has the damned device or if Maul does.  Man this has got to be the definition of ‘be careful what you wish for’.” Arl chuckles, Quin gets a weird look on his face. “You know you could go back.”

“Back where?” Arlie asks.

“Earth.” She seems surprised by the notion before thinking it over, smiling sadly for a moment before it morphed into content.

“I admit that hadn’t occurred to me but, yes, I suppose I could.”

“Why don’t you?” He asks, almost pleadingly.

“Because this is my home now.” She tells him.

“Yes but, Sonny and Trick and your boyfriend.” She looks at him in confusion.

“Why do you want me to go?” He sighs.

“Because you would be safe there.”

“Quin, I don’t want to be safe while you all are in danger.”

“You were just a kid, this isn’t your world.  I mean, this wasn’t the life you should have lead.  If your mentor had just left well enough alone… or if you’d stayed on Earth…”

“Quin, where is this coming from?” She asks looking rather put out by his words.

“You went out to buy cat pyjamas.  You were innocent and young and safe and home.”

“Yes, I was, and that was ruined for me.  But by my own hand, I chose to come back here, I chose to change things when the force brought me back in time and I _choose_ to stay here now and keep fighting.  I was never meant for another life Quin.” He realises now that he should probably tell her the force was not what brought her back, but instead stays quiet and pulls shields he hadn’t realised he’d built tighter around himself.  He always shields his mind, but never from those two, now he has to, for their own good.

“All right then.  We have a couple of Sith Lords to find.”

 

 

 

“Quin, come to bed.” Dooku requests of his lover, it was 3rd hour for gods sake.

“I think I have something here Ty.” Quin tells him, he sighs.

“Quin, it’s been four months since you got here.”

“So what?  I am supposed to just give up?”

“No, you are supposed to realise that we have no new leads so waiting the precious few hours left until morning will not change anything.  Except that you’ll have had more rest than you’ve had in the four months since you got here.”

“I just, I can’t okay? I _have_ to find hi-them, I have to find them.” Dooku just kind of looks at him.

“It’s cute how you try to make it seem like you aren’t just hunting Maul down.” He deadpans, Quin finally looks away from his datapad and up to him.

“We need to find the device Tyranus, Maul is not going to let it far from him, trust me.”

“I’m just curious which event lead to this crusade, the torture on Telos IV, whatever happened in the mindscape, or the deaths on Dathomir.”

“It is not a crusade Dooku.” He says turning back to his datapad, Dooku sighs again, looking at his lover before going back to bed, alone.

 

 

“Quin?” Dooku asks as he comes home and sees his lover sitting with his legs hanging over the balcony. “Coruscant to Quinlan.” He says as he sits beside the man, “What’s going on?”  Quin sighs, the first sound he’s made so far.

“I can’t find him Doo.”  Dooku sighs as he takes Quin’s hand, they’d been waiting for this. “I just, he’s hurt me so many times in so many ways and I-I should be _able_ to find him!  He-he can’t, I mean, how can he just get away with it?” He asks looking to his partner brokenly, Dooku places a hand on his cheek to hold eye contact.

“He won’t.  We will find him Quinlan, but we need you around.  Here, and present, _I_ need you around, your Padawan needs her Master.  Please, leave this to others.” Quinlan, bites his upper lip, trying to fight the tears that stream down his face anyway.  He nods.

“I’ll try.” Dooku raises an eyebrow at him, “Sometimes all we have to give is the will to try Tyranus.”

“Why do I feel like you are quoting someone?”  Quin sighs dejectedly, remembering Arlie telling them about what Pyre Halvi had said.

“I am, just no one you would know.”   They sit in silence a few moments before Quin turns to him again. “Life-bond with me.” Dooku looks at him in surprise.

“If this is your version of a proposal, it needs some serious work.” Dooku says, Quin gives a watery laugh. 

“How about this then.  Lord Tyranus, of the Sith, you are so very important to me.  I have felt your death once, if it is to ever happen again, I do not want to live with the knowledge that there was some part of me I had not given to you.  I love you so very much, you are my partner, and lover, but more than either, you are my friend.  I wish for us to spend the rest of our lives together, do you?”

“I dunno…that seems like it could be a long time…” Quin scoffs and hits him playfully.

“Well if that’s how you feel about it…”

“Yes Quin, yes I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even if mine will likely be much shorter than your own.  And yes, I will most definitely life-bond with you.”  They kiss, it’s an adorable moment, naturally that’s when Aayla comes home and sees them kissing on the balcony.

“Eww! Masters, you have a bedroom for that!” Dooku pulls back just enough to lean their foreheads together as they both laugh.

 

 

 

_How did you know?_

_Why did you come to Telos IV?_

_Why did you come back?_

_How do the Jedi know so much?_

_YOU WILL TELL ME!_

Quinlan jolts forward, gasping as he wakes up, turning to find Dooku asleep in the bed beside him, breathing, alive.  He gets up and walks out to their balcony.  It has been nine months since he got here, Obi-Wan was due any day now.  Quin still can’t believe he’s pregnant at all, he knew Obi wasn’t human, he had not been aware that the Tellarin people had two natures in mating that did not correspond with gender.  It had certainly explained his behaviour though between the weird cravings and, as it turns out, Tellarins are famous for their mood swings during pregnancy.  He was fairly certain Obi had been pregnant before he and Maul had accidentally created this divergent timeline, so at least he didn’t stop the baby from existing.

Quin takes a deep breath of fresh (by Coruscant’s standards) air and tried to calm down.  These nightmares were the norm though they ranged from Telos, to the mindscape, Dathomir, and even Naboo. Though he had never even been to Naboo, he often dreams of how it could have gone differently had Maul been there instead of Wrath.

Nine months and not a word or whisper or anything, they just had no way of finding the man.  Quin hadn’t given up per se, but even he had to admit running himself into the ground was doing little good.  He still searched, especially when the nightmares got bad.  When he searched until he collapsed, he slept well.  Terza did not seem to agree that that meant it is the healthy thing for him to do.  Actually, Arlie had told him that if he had kept it up to the same extent for just a week more they had planned to stage an intervention.  He had tried to stop when he told Tyranus he was going to, but then he had another idea and it all got away from him again, that had been three months ago.

Still, now he had no idea what to do, he _had_ to find them, but he was out of options.  Unless his Arlie came down from full forcliness, there was nothing more he could do, except dream apparently.

“You know, you aren’t the first to find yourself in this position with Maul.” A voice says from behind him, he turns and sees Arlie, only it’s _his_ Arlie, yet something was…off.

“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?  You aren’t real.” She smiles.

“You are dreaming, but who’s to say if that makes me real or imaginary.  And then, is imaginary the real truth or is that further falsehood?” She asks, he smirks.

“Definitely you.” She laughs, he’s missed that angelic sound.  Somehow, pre-death Arlie just didn’t have that same graceful twinkle in her laugh and in her eyes. “Okay, I’ll bite, what are you doing here?” He asks after they’ve stood in silence for several minutes.

“As I said, you are not the first to do this.  During the war, Obi-Wan ran himself ragged trying to find Maul, he killed Qui-Gon, he killed Adi, and he killed Satine.  If anyone knows of his hiding places, it’s Ben.”

“But if he knew, wouldn’t he have told me?” Arl smiles patiently, damn did he both love and hate that face.

“Would he?”

 

Dooku woke up, unsurprised to find the other half of his bed empty, he was however surprised to find his lover in the kitchen when he ventured out.

“Good morning!” He says when he sees him, leaning across the counter to kiss him.

“Good morning, what’s got you in such a good mood?” Dooku asks as Quin places a plate on the counter in front of him, four pancakes piled high.

“Umm, nothing really…” Quin awkwardly lies, Dooku lifts an eyebrow at his younger lover, Quin sighs, “I think I might have a lead.”

“Quin…”

“I know! But I didn’t go looking for it, it came to me.”

“What do you mean it came to you?”

“The force gave me a nudge in the right direction, I don’t know if anything will turn up, but I mean we’re supposed to follow the will of the force, right?” Dooku looks in his lover’s eyes, intending to tell him to drop it, only he doesn’t.

“Yes, I suppose you are right.”

 

“I thought we agreed it was for the best!?” Tholme whisper yells to Dooku who at least has the grace to look mildly sheepish at the blatant chastisement.

“Yes, I know, but he just looked so hopeful and when I agreed he looked happier than I have seen him in months.” Dooku replies, “I just think he’s viewing this as his last shot, maybe if we give him this, he can let it go.”

“Do you even know what it is? His last ‘lead’ involved getting a herd of Banthas to Korriban!”

“I didn’t ask.” Tholme sighs.

“Fine, last time.  Then _you_ tell him to drop it.  Forever.  The rest of us can find them, he’s off the case.” Dooku nods, Tholme stalks off, Dooku releases a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding.

“That went better than I was expecting.”

 

“Hey Obi-Wan, can I talk to you for a second?” Quin asks coming to walk next to his friend, instinctually linking arms with him to help his very pregnant friend stay balanced.

“Sure, what’s up?” Obi asks as he continues walking back to his quarters.

“It-uh, It’s about Maul.” He replies nervously, Obi sighs.

“Quin...”

“I know but…”

“No! No buts.  We’ve been through this, you need to let it go, the others have got this.”

“Yes, and I was doing really well!”

“It’s been a week Quinlan!”

“Exactly!  Now I was thinking…” Obi-Wan groans in frustration, “Arl mentioned once that you spent a while trying to track Maul down during the war in the other timeline.”

“Yes, I did. What’s your point?”

“I was hoping maybe you’d have some idea where he could be hiding?  Or maybe just some pointers on ways to track him?” Obi stops walking and turns to face him with speed that is quite impressive for the heavily pregnant.

“Quin, stop.  I cannot help you find him, if I knew how to do so many people, friends, would not have died, and a planet I cared a great deal for would not have descended into anarchy.” Both quirk their lips at the words before sobering, “If I knew how to find him, I would tell the people working the case, which in case you’ve forgotten, you are not.”

“Okay but…”

“I already said no buts.”

“WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!?” Obi-Wan rears back in shock, tears gathering in his eyes, Quin internally curses himself. “Obi, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”

“No, it’s fine.” He says, wiping tears from his cheeks as they fall, Quin looks around, unsure what to do.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

 

“What happened love?” Qui-Gon asks when Quin and Obi-Wan walk in, Obi in tears.  Qui-Gon opens his arms to pull his mate in for a hug, he buries his face in Qui’s chest.

“Quin yelled at me.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to yell at you.” Qui-Gon tells him, looking to Quin for some help, he just looks guiltily at his feet.

“I did, sort of, shout at him.  I didn’t mean to upset him.” Qui looks at him incredulously, apparently used to Obi-Wan’s reactions being with minimal to no cause.

“What happened?”

“Um, it, uh…” Quin stumbles awkwardly.

“We were talking about Anakin, things sort of spiralled.” Obi tells him as he calms down, Quin nods along with the story, Qui-Gon looks unconvinced but says nothing.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Quin says backing out of the room, Obi-Wan follows him back outside after a moment of hesitation.

“Wait, uh, I may have an idea how to find him.” Obi-Wan tells him, Quin turns in surprise.

 

“So, wait, you’re going to Naboo with Obi-Wan?” Dooku asks Quin as he packs.

“Yep.”

“Why?” He asks confused, Quin looks the same.

“I’m not entirely sure yet, I’ll let you know.”

“Can I assume it has something to do with this lead you had this morning?”

“You can so long as you aren’t mentioning that assumption to Anarch.”

“Why would you put me in the middle of those two?”

“You made the assumption.”

“Okay, but you have something?  You actually have something?” Quin nods.

“I think so.”

“Should Obi-Wan be going with you?  The baby will be here any day now.”

“I know, but we won’t be gone long.”

 

 

“Obi-Wan!” Padmé calls happily, walking over when they leave the ship.

“Your Highness.” He says with a teasing smile, “I’d bow but uh…” He says gesturing to himself, she claps with excitement.

“Ohhhh Ani mentioned you were having a baby!” She says excitedly, “Speaking of, hi Ani.” She says, and man this girl was bursting with enthusiasm.

“Hi Padmé.” The boy in question says with a huge grin on his face, bowing before hugging her, a hug she returns happily.

“Padmé Amidala, this is my good friend Quinlan Vos.”

“Queen Amidala, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Quin says with a smile and a bow of his own.

“Please, Master Vos, my friends call me Padmé.”

“And mine call me Quin.” He says with a wink, she smiles and giggles.  Obi-Wan elbows him in the stomach, “Ow.”

“Not that you are not always welcome here, but you sounded as though this were more than a social visit.”

“Yes, I was actually hoping you could watch Anakin for a few hours while Quin and I take care of some… non-Jedi related business?” Padmé raises an eyebrow at his wording, Anakin just laughs.

“I’m their alibi, apparently I got blamed for something so now I have to cover for them by coming here.  Of course, if my job means spending time with you, I think it’s more than worth it.” He tells her, she smiles at him, blushing slightly, as he gazes adoringly at her.

“Damn, he’s smooth.” Quin whispers to Obi-Wan who tries to hide his laugh in a cough, based on Anakin’s glare, he fails.

“I will happily keep Ani with me, do try not to get into too much trouble though.”

 

“She doesn’t know who you are does she?  To her I mean.” Quin asks him, Obi smiles sadly.

“She knows that I am her friend, that is how it must be.”

“Why?”

“Because Anakin and Shmi got brought in when Wrath threatened them because he wanted to scare Arlie.  I do not wish to be the reason she is in danger, not when she has been through so much already.”

“So where are we going?” Quin asks curiously, deciding to drop the previous subject, Obi sighs.

“Somewhere I really thought I’d never go again.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, they get off the transport Padmé had leant them, Obi-Wan leading the two up to a house when Quin helps him out of his seat.

“Seriously, never get pregnant Quinlan.” He grumbles, Quin smiles.

“Really not gonna be a problem for me Obes.”

“Don’t ever call me that again.”

“Yeah good call on that one.  So, what is this place.”

“Home.” Obi-Wan tells him, leading Quin into the house after unlocking it.  The house is beautiful, arched doorways, a fireplace with a mantel covered in photographs.  Paintings and photos on the walls, a living room and dining room open plan straight in from the entryway and stairs off to the side leading to the upstairs.  Obi walks forward and grabs one of the photos on the mantel, bringing it over to Quin. “That’s Mace when he was a teenager.” Quin chuckles at the picture of Mace and a young Sheev Palpatine, arms over each other’s shoulders and grinning wildly to whomever was taking the picture. “He was sixteen, came to visit my mother and father, Father was twenty-six.”

“Why are we here Obi-Wan?” Obi walks over to the step that separates the living and dining room.

“I tried very hard to find Maul during the war, Anakin yelled at me to stop one night, said he was losing me to this madness.  I told him to stop being ridiculous, he said that I had never had family, that I didn’t know what it was like to lose it, that he did and he couldn’t do it again.” Quin stays silent as Obi-Wan talks, staring at a patch of ground, Quin doesn’t have to think very hard to know why he is looking there.  “I, of course, did know what that was like, he just didn’t know that.  Thought I came to the temple when I was a toddler like the others.  Still, it got through to me, I had a dream that night about my mother.  She said if I wanted answers, I could find them here.  Only instead of finding a way to find him, I found a reason to stop looking.  This family was lost to me, but my friends, my Padawan, they weren’t.  If I kept going that would change.” Quin feels tears prick his eyes. “I don’t know how to find Maul, but I figured finding Wrath is a start.  You came here in the other timeline when we were trying to work out what happened the night my Mother died, it was too clouded by the darkness of someone being possessed.  I thought perhaps, knowing what you do now, you may be able to get more from this place.” Quin looks confused, “Or, you can walk out that door with me right now, you can leave finding Maul to the people with less to lose in doing so.” He says finally looking up at Quin.

Quinlan walked over to Obi-Wan, bending down and touching the ground, only he sees nothing, he chooses to see nothing.

“Let’s get out of here Obi-Wan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, let’s go home.” Quin stands, Obi-Wan smiles at him, then Quin sees a picture on the wall behind him. “Is that your Mother?” Obi turns around and looks, he nods, “She’s hot.”

“QUINLAN!” Obi-Wan yells, anger softened by the laughter, Quin laughs too.

“You look a lot like her actually.”

“Are you calling me hot?”

“I dig pregnant men.” Quin says with a wink, Obi laughs and the two turn to leave, only to have the front door slam shut in their faces, turning around they see they are no longer alone.  It occurs to Quin that they may never have been, the thought of which sends a shiver down his spine.

“Welcome home Little Obi.”  Obi-Wan drops the picture in his hands in shock.

 

 

“Any word yet?” Padmé asks Captain Panaka as he comes into the gardens she and Ani are in.

“Nothing, have you any idea, at all, where they may have gone Padawan Skywalker?” Ani shakes his head sadly, “Then I think it may be time to contact the Jedi Temple.” Anakin bites his lip nervously.

“I’m sorry Ani, we tried, but it’s time to.  Something bad could have happened and Obi-Wan is definitely not in any condition to deal with it.” Padmé tells him, he nods. “Come on, we’ll holocall them from the throne room.”

 

“Padawan Skywalker.” Plo says as he answers the call, the council, minus Quin sit around the room.

“Masters, something has happened, well possibly happened, we aren’t entirely sure.”

“What happened? Where are Little Obi and Quin?” Arlie asks worriedly, that was something that had surprised Quin, Arl was on the council for the Custos subsect that was apparently already set up, only they aren’t called Custos, seeing as they never went back in time to properly learn Ch’blanc.  Instead, they’re called Watchers, and the subsect are the Protectors.  Far less imaginative if you asked Quin, not that anyone did, but many know of his opinions on the matter anyway.

“Um, we uh, we aren’t exactly sure.”

“What do you mean you aren’t sure?” Qui-Gon asks his Padawan, Ani can see Owen standing against the wall looking worried as well.

“Well, they went off to do what they came to do and they haven’t been back.  That was seven hours ago.”

“Why weren’t you with them? They went to Naboo to fix some problem of yours, didn’t they?” Qui asks, daring the boy to lie to him, Ani winces.

“Um, about that.”

“Anakin.”

“Okay, I don’t know why we came here, Obi said he had used me as an excuse about something with he and Quin to you and then needed me to be their cover to come to Naboo and do something, I don’t know what…” Anakin trails off awkwardly, the council looks livid though Tholme is glaring at Dooku directly who is looking shifty.

“Dammit I told you Tyranus!”

“Yes I know! I’m sorry, you were right. You happy now?”

“I’ll be happy when they are home safe, all _three_ of them.” Tholme says to remind Dooku of the unborn child.

“Will someone tell me where my Bond-mate and _unborn child are_?!” Qui-Gon demands harshly, Dooku and Tholme exchange guilty looks.

“Quin was happy yesterday morning, said he had gotten a new lead on Maul.  I told him to let it go but then he said something about the force willing it and I sort of…caved.  Anyway, then later that day I come home to find him packing, he said he was going to Naboo with Obi-Wan and that it had something to do with his lead but that I wasn’t supposed to mention it to Qui-Gon.”

“Okay, to be clear, I didn’t know any of that!” Anakin tells his Master who has apparently gotten over his anger enough to look sick with worry.

“Why would Obi-Wan have helped him with that?” Tahl questions, “He was the most adamant that Quin be taken off the case.”

“Yes, because he has his own experience going crazy trying to track Maul down.”

“Quin and Obi-Wan walked into my home yesterday morning, Obi-Wan was in tears.  Naturally I assumed something minor had happened that seemed much worse to him, said Quin had yelled at him.  I was prepared to write it off as oversensitivity but Quinlan said that he had shouted at him.  When he left Obi-Wan followed him out the door, they spoke briefly before he came back.  Said their argument about Anakin had been solved and that they needed to sort something out for him so were taking him to Naboo and asked me to watch Owen for a day while they were gone.”

“And none of you questioned any of this?” Panaka asks, unable to keep his silence, Yoda sighs.

“Perhaps, too trusting of our own we are.”

“You say that, but having your family turn on you without thought sucks a whole lot more than believing in someone and having them let you down.” Anakin mutters darkly, Padmé lays a hand on his shoulder, eyes filled with concern. “Sorry.”

“Okay wait, this happened before, I mean, Obi-Wan when he was searching for Maul.  Suddenly had a lead out of nowhere, went to Naboo, when he came back he dropped the case all together and apologised to Anakin and his men profusely for neglecting them.  Maybe he was showing Quin whatever he found here hoping he would do the same?” Arlie suggests.

“It certainly seems more likely than Obi-Wan helping Quin dig his rabbit hole deeper.”

“Ah shit.” Mace mutters suddenly earning everyone’s attention, “I may know where he took him.”

 

 

“This is Obi-Wan’s house?” Padmé asks in surprise when they pull up out the front of the address Mace gave them.

“It was his father’s, he inherited it when he turned…what’s the legal age on Naboo?” Anakin asks.

“Thirteen.” Anakin looks at her in surprise, “I’m fourteen and the Queen of a planet, this surprises you?”

“I suppose not, anyway, he inherited it when he turned thirteen.  Man, that was an interesting year for him.”

“Let’s go then, shall we?” Panaka suggests, the two children agree and so they head inside, Anakin picking the lock with an ease that earns him two surprised looks.

“Jedi learn strange things.” He says with a shrug before they enter the house, when they enter they see some obvious signs of struggle, chairs over turned, a few slice marks from lightsabers on the walls and the railing of the stairs, the mantel had been hit with something, glass from the shattered photo frames on the ground.  Sensing the house and realising they are alone, Anakin goes over and picks up one of the frames, turning it over he is met with the smiling faces of a very young Little Obi Palpatine, Sheev Palpatine, a woman who Anakin thinks must be his mother, and the baby she is holding.

“Is that them? Obi-Wan’s family I mean.” Padmé asks, Anakin nods, “That’s Sheev Palpatine, the Dark Sith!” She says recognising the man easily from his time as the Nubian Senator.

“Yep, his father, I think that’s his mother Lorna and his little brother Nih-Lo.”

“I didn’t know he had siblings.” Anakin nods.

“He has a brother and sister from his birth family, a brother from his adopted and a brother and sister from his adopted step-family.” Padmé look confused. “His adoptive Father Cliegg married my Mother, Shmi.  So, Arlie and I are his step siblings.  Then there is his adoptive brother, my step-brother, Owen.  Then Nih-Lo and…Mé are his biological siblings.” She seems to understand.

“Is that Mé?” She asks when she sees a picture of Obi-Wan, a young boy she thinks must be an older Nih-Lo, and a baby in a hospital chair.

“Probably, I don’t know, I’ve never been here before.  Looks like the same baby Master Windu has in his Holo.”

“Master Windu?” She asks, Anakin looks around before finding a picture of a young Mace and Sheev.

“They’re half-brothers.” He says showing her the picture, running his thumb over the frame he suddenly sees something.

_“That_ _’s Mace when he was a teenager._ _” Quin chuckles at the picture of Mace and a young Sheev Palpatine, arms over each other_ _’s shoulders and grinning wildly to whomever was taking the picture._ _“He was sixteen, came to visit my mother and father, Father was twenty-six._ _”_

_“Why are we here Obi-Wan?_ _” Obi walks over to the step that separates the living and dining room._

_“I tried very hard to find Maul during the war, Anakin yelled at me to stop on night, said he was losing me to this madness.  I told him to stop being ridiculous, he said that I had never had family, that I didn_ _’t know what it was like to lose it, that he did and he couldn_ _’t do it again._ _” Quin stays silent as Obi-Wan talks, staring at a patch of ground, Quin doesn_ _’t have to think very hard to know why he is looking there._ _“I, of course, did know what that was like, he just didn_ _’t know that.  Thought I came to the temple when I was a toddler like the others.  Still, it got through to me, I had a dream that night about my mother.  She said if I wanted answers, I could find them here.  Only instead of finding a way to find him, I found a reason to stop looking.  This family was lost to me, but my friends, my Padawan, they weren_ _’t.  If I kept going that would change._ _” Quin feels tears prick his eyes._ _“I don_ _’t know how to find Maul, but I figured finding Wrath is a start.  You came here in the other timeline when we were trying to work out what happened the night my Mother died, it was too clouded by the darkness of someone being possessed.  I thought perhaps, knowing what you do now, you may be able to get more from this place._ _” Quin looks confused,_ _“Or, you can walk out that door with me right now, you can leave finding Maul to the people with less to lose in doing so._ _” He says finally looking up at Quin._

_Quinlan walked over to Obi-Wan, bending down and touching the ground._

_“Let_ _’s get out of here Obi-Wan._ _”_

_“Yeah?_ _”_

_“Yeah, let_ _’s go home._ _” Quin stands, Obi-Wan smiles at him, then Quin sees a picture on the wall behind him._ _“Is that your Mother?_ _” Obi turns around and looks, he nods,_ _“She_ _’s hot._ _”_

_“QUINLAN!_ _” Obi-Wan yells, anger softened by the laughter, Quin laughs too._

_“You look a lot like her actually._ _”_

_“Are you calling me hot?_ _”_

_“I dig pregnant men._ _” Quin says with a wink, Obi laughs and the two turn to leave, only to have the front door slam shut in their faces, turning around they see they are not alone._

_“Welcome home Little Obi._ _”_

“Oh crap.” Anakin says dropping the picture and shaking his hand about wildly, as though trying to flick off the remainder of what he’d just seen.

“Anakin what happened?” Padmé asks worriedly.

“I need to contact the temple. Immediately.”

 

 

“Did you find something?” Qui-Gon asks as soon as the call has gone through, Anakin nods.

“Wrath was there.”

“What did you find?” Mace asks, sitting forward in concern.

“We _found_ nothing.” Panaka mutters, Anakin takes a deep breath, releasing his frustration into the force.

“Masters, while they were there Obi-Wan picked up a photo and showed it to Master Quin.  I saw the conversation they had, he was holding it when they went to leave.  When the door slammed shut, the two turned back around and saw Wrath standing there, he said welcome home Little Obi.  Then I believe Obi-Wan dropped the picture.  I cannot explain how this happened, but I know what I saw and I know that it happened.” He tells them firmly, Yoda looks at him thoughtfully.

“Believe you we do.  Help us find them this does not.” Yoda says mournfully, Anakin nods.

“Regretfully, we found nothing more.” He says sadly, feeling like he failed his Master, like he failed his brother.

“Find them we must.” Yoda tells them all, Mace takes a deep, centring breath.

“Find them we will.” He tells them all firmly, not a doubt in his mind.

“Let us hope we do in time.  There is that time constraint of impending labour to think about.” Tahl reminds them.

“What is it?” Mic asks when Siri and Xan exchange a look.

“We may know where they are.” Xanny tells them.

“At the very least we know where they could be, and from there, I believe Anakin could find them.” Siri amends, she looks to the boy who nods once.

“I’ll be on Coruscant by tonight.”


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 

“We have a near fortress and not enough Shadows properly trained.” Xanatos begins, “So you have all been picked to come with us.  They have two of our people, and a child of our Order.  This is primarily a rescue mission, that being said, you get a shot at Maul, take it.  Don’t fatally injure Wrath unless you have to, all it will do is kill an innocent man and give us even less to work with to find Wrath than we already had.  Secondary mission is to find the reality altering device.” He says as he lays out a blueprint.  Mace, Mic, Garen, Dooku, Qui, Tholme, Yoda, Das Orla, Petra Hone, Arl, Anakin, and Siri stood around the table.

“These are the cells, this is Wrath’s make-believe throne room.  We believe they will be in one of those two places.  Or, depending on how merciful Wrath is feeling and how against us events are, Obi-Wan may be here, in the medical bay.” Siri continues.

“Where exactly did you get all this information?” Mace asks, Siri smiles disarmingly at him.

“We are Shadows Master Windu.  Now, Tatooine is a day and a half away with Garen flying, so we will go over the plan several times again on the way there.  For now, we are sticking in pairs, people you’ve worked with before to watch your back, but it is important that we work as a cohesive unit.”

“Master Windu and Lord Schlau, you’re our first pair, you’re to breach the compound through this ventilation shaft, drop down three levels and exit here, you two are searching the cells.  Master Giiett, Lord Anarch, our second pair.  You two come in through this window in the basement, search the bottom floors for the RAD, if it’s anywhere, it’s there, the labs or the throne room.  Lord Tyranus, Master Yoda, you two breach through the door here, hide in this closet for three minutes and thirteen seconds, then make your way straight down this hallway to the throne room, deal with _whatever_ you find in there. Lady Orla, Knight Hone, you are breaking through the wall here, there’s a weak point, leads straight into the labs without setting off an alarm, try not to die from whatever is in it.  Lady Tachi, Master Tholme, you two are coming in skyward.  Climb the tree that will be on that cliff ledge, jump to the roof of the building, down the skylight into the medical bay below.  Search it.  Master Aa, Padawan Skywalker, you two stay on the ship.  If Little Obi and Quin are not here, the two of you come in and we commence plan B.” Xanatos explains.

“Is Plan B as well thought through as this?” Arl asks, Siri nods, “Okay then, I’m good.”

“Any other questions?” Siri asks, none are voiced. “Brilliant, now, Anakin and Owen have created a prototype collar that they believe will trap Wrath in Sheev’s body so that he cannot escape, though it is thus far untested, well this is all we have.  We leave in one hour. Dismissed.”

 

 

A day and a half later, they reach Tatooine, going over the plan one more time before they move into position.  Schlau and Mace, crouching by the ventilation shaft as they wait for the signal, Mace looks at him appraisingly.

“You know, I think this is the first time you’ve been on a mission since joining the Sith Sect without your Master.” Garen looks thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

“Yes, I think you may be right.”

“Are you up for this Ren?  You’ve been off since Quin got here.” Garen sighs at his former Master’s words.

“I…have had trouble accepting that some version of me was forced to live a life without one of my bond-mates in it.  I cannot imagine doing that, I cannot imagine _Quin_ doing it.  I suppose really I just cannot imagine a galaxy without Arlie in it.” Mace nods in understanding.

“It shook me too, not just that but…we keep finding things that are different from Quin’s divergent timeline.  I have trouble coming to terms with us leading a completely different life.  I mean, where were we all?  What may we have lost or gained?” Garen smiles relieved.

“I was worried I was the only one.” Mace chuckles.

“You aren’t, Mic has been troubled too.  What Quin said about you dying had him barely sleeping for weeks.  Somehow, I think Arlie was the least affected.” Garen shook his head.

“Arl seems that way because of the war.  She is far too used to having no opportunity to second guess herself, having to hide any doubt so that the galaxy could move forward and not fall apart when she did.  She once tried to die, yet finding out about a time when she did…I think after everything, Arl forgets she is still human, still Mortal.  Too busy looking at the galaxy and not seeing little things, like the fact that she may die from this.”

“I think we all were honestly.” Garen nods, “I think that none of us are quite sure how to move forward, months after the fact, that maybe even Quin has handled this better than the rest of us.”

“Well that only makes sense.  Five people he loved and lost were saved.  Nothing else really matters in comparison to that does it?”

“I just wish he weren’t keeping so much from us.”

“There are an awful lot of holes, aren’t there?”

“Indeed, the way he looks at Arlie sometimes, like her being alive is both the greatest blessing and harshest curse…I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Sounds like as hard as it was, her death somehow gained us quite a bit in this fight.” They both fall silent for a moment before Mace shakes himself out of it.

“All we can do is move forward.” Garen smiles.

“Live in the moment?” Mace laughs but nods.  They hear the signal in their comms and open the vents, heading in.

They move quickly and carefully through the vents, gently making their way down three levels so as not to make a noise.  Finally, they make it to their exit point, putting them directly in front of the cell block.  They destroy the two droids guarding the cells and enter block.

“Now, those are not common droids.” Garen comments, Mace nods looking troubled but unsurprised.

“Same droids used on Naboo.” Garen blows out a breath.

“Definitely in the right evil lair then, right?” Mace smirks and nods.

“Ren? Moo Moo?” Mace sighs.

“I could kill my brother for that one.” He says as they hurry towards the cell and find Quin looking rather beat up.  It briefly occurs to Mace that they may not have been the best choice of words…

“Quin, come on.” Garen says trying to use the force to pull the cell door open.

“I’m going to assume you just did something monumentally stupid like try to use the force.  Seriously, two days and you think that didn’t occur to me?”  Quin gets glared at, he turns from Garen and looks at Mace who is looking at him sadly. “What?”

“You’re speaking too loudly.” Mace says slowly, making sure Quin can read his lips.  He had admitted to them what happened to his hearing when he went back in time and why, so really they should have expected this, Quin sighs and nods.

“Got some internal haemorrhaging going on too if the blood I’ve been coughing up is any indication.”

“There is a lot of darkness here.” Garen adds, Quin looks at him.

“Really?  Hadn’t noticed.” Quin states sarcastically, really missing when everyone spoke sign language.

“Well you’re in a bad mood.”

“May have something to do with the haemoptysis or the beating or general kidnapping.  Never does bring out my optimistic side.  Nor does the possible concussion from when I collapsed nor my head pounding and ears hurting like fuck because I’m bloody deaf again!”  It was a little hard for Garen to follow what he said, given how he switched between too loud and too quiet, trying to compensate for each, but he got the gist of it.

“Just stand back okay?  I got an idea.”  Quin winced as he pulled himself of the ground, stumbling back as dizziness hit, catching himself on the back wall of the cell.  Mace and Garen exchange worried looks, Quin glares.

“I’d roll my eyes right now if I thought I could manage it without puking.  Stop worrying about me, just get me out of here.”  Neither look convinced but Garen turns to the lock on the cell, it was electronically based.  They may not be able to yank the door off, but with any luck this cell was Jedi proof, not Sith proof.  He holds a hand out and throws force lightning at the lock, it sparks before the light goes from green to red, the door swings open.  Mace goes in, throwing Quin’s arm over his shoulder and supporting him.  As they move, Mace does what he can to heal Quin, managing to get him walking on his own again.

 _“Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ _”_ Yoda tells the group through the comm, Mace and Garen exchange looks, both turning to Quin at the same time who glances at them warily.

“Yoda and Dook…” He stops when Quin suddenly looks away from him and starts hurrying off, falling against the wall and then using it to brace himself as he continues. Mace and Garen exchange confused look before hurrying after him, Mace grabs his arm sending a look of confusion to him.

“Maul is here.” They look surprised.

“How do you know?” Garen asks, Quin scowls.

“Let’s just say I am intimately familiar with how the darkness in his force signature feels.” Quin snarls, glad that his ability to use the force to understand what is being said is now good enough that, while he cannot know exactly what is being said by more than one person, with two people, he caught enough words and meaning to understand.

“We need to get you back to the ship.” Mace tells him, “You cannot fight him.” He says when Quin goes to object.

“I’ve fought him before.”

“Not while in a kriffing Sith Lair.” Garen tells him, Quin looks them both in the eye.

“I will not let him get that device again.” Mace sighs and, against his better judgement, gestures down the hallway.

“Lead the way.”

 

 

Anarch and Mic take up position beside the window to the basements, knowing the signal isn’t due for another few minutes, many had harder entrances than they.  Mic stares at the window, unwilling to address the fact that Qui-Gon keeps glancing at him as they sit in an awkward silence of his own creation.

“Mic…”

“Yes Qui-Gon?” Mic asks in a rather impatient tone, Qui-Gon sighs.

“I am sorry.” Mic looks at him in surprise, which quickly morphs into disbelief and then anger, he looks back to the window.

“Can’t imagine what you mean.”

“It’s been two years Micah…”

“No.  It’s been over fifty.” Qui-Gon looks pained, “Two years of a truth you were forced into giving us does not change the fifty years you lied to me.”

“Mic…”

“You were my best friend Qui-Gon.  My brother.  You and Tahl were my two closest friends, it was hard enough when you pulled away during Xanatos’ brief unwilling dalliance with the dark side years ago, now I know why that happened so quickly, so easily.” Qui-Gon looks surprised and confused.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, we weren’t really close to begin with, were we?” Qui-Gon looks like Mic actually physically hit him.

“M…”

“I don’t care that you are a Sith.  I mean, I did, but you’ve done good with Garen, done good for him, so I can deal with that.  I care that I knew nothing about your life, about you.  Every conversation about the code, about the Jedi and the Sith, about your missions and your padawanship, about what you thought of our own people.  Every lie about your Master.  I don’t know you Qui-Gon…Anarch.”

“Then give me a chance, _get_ to know me.” Mic scoffs.

“You sound like Mace.”

“Maybe he’s right?”

“Everything about our friendship was a lie.  Everything it was built on.  I could try to get to know you, but you will not ever be the friend I had, the friend I miss, because he never existed.  I was raised not to hold grudges, to be angry at all really, but this…this I cannot let go.  So, let’s just be professional and get this done.” They hear the signal, Qui-Gon nodding to him despite looking deeply troubled, they climb in through the window.

They search through the basement rooms, finding nothing but empty tables, abandoned projects, and a whole hell of a lot of dust.  They walk down a hallway, taking a side each, opening doors and peering inside as they go.

“Dust, dust, dust, battle droids, dust…wait what?” Mic says as he goes from one door to the other, closing them behind him, then quickly backtracking, Qui-Gon rushes up to him looking amused, “Shush.” He admonishes without thinking.  They enter quickly, dealing with the droids and looking at what they are guarding. “What the hell is this thing?”

“I have no idea.” Qui replies, grabbing Mic’s arm when he reaches for it, “So we probably shouldn’t touch it.”

“That’s a good point.”

“Mic…” Mic rolls his eyes and begins looking around the room for something to explain the device, Qui-Gon grabs his arm and turns him back around.   “Do the eight years prior to my apprenticeship with Lord Tyranus mean so little to you?” Mic opens his mouth to retort but Qui-Gon speaks first, “I know you are hurt by my keeping this from you, but through the lies and missions and secrets, speaking to you and Tahl kept me sane.  Living a lie, the constant battle of Jedi and Sith, the pressure of hiding everything in a temple of Jedi…Then I’d spend time with my two best friends, and I would just be a person.  I could be me and no one would kill me.  I never lied about a mission, never pretended to agree with the code.  I may not have said the word ‘Sith’ nor did I tell you everything about my training and relationship with Dooku, but I never lied to you.  I did everything I could to tell you as much as I could.”

“Then why not tell me everything?  Why lie to me at all?”

“Because Dooku once said to me that if we get caught, everyone we tell will go down with us.  He told me that the first time he let me hang out with you guys after apprenticing me, to protect me and to protect the two of you.  I did not want you two in danger of losing your home because of a decision _I_ made.” Mic takes a deep breath.

“You still should have told me.” Qui-Gon smirks.

“The next time I betray everything I am supposed to stand for, you will be the first to know.” He promises dryly, Mic laughs.

“I do hope that _doesn_ _’t_ happen again, but let me know if it does.  I’ll help you dig the hole you’ve gotten yourself into, and should I fall in with you, well that will have been my decision.” Qui-Gon nods his agreement, Mic smiles and throws his arms around his oldest friend.

“I don’t like being mad at you, it’s tiring.” They both laugh at his words.

_“Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ _”_

“Guess this thing, whatever it is, will have to wait.” Qui says, glancing at the object in question, Mic nods.  He grins, grabbing Qui-Gon’s arm and pulling him towards the door, they both rush towards the throne room to help their family.

 

Orla and Hone wait by the wall, feeling for the weak point before waiting for the signal they know should be any second now.

“Hey, Pet?” Das asks, Petra looks at her best friend, eyebrows raised. “Do you ever wonder what our lives would be like if none of this ever happened?  If the Sith really had died out, if Master Arl never came back?  If all our lives had just continued on as they had been going?”

“I mean, I didn’t before now.” She replies, confused by the sudden question.

“I just mean, we are better trained than the Jedi of the old Order had been in a thousand years, our previously stagnant order has evolved so much, and now we are fighting Dark Sith again.  I can’t seem to decide if we’ve made a gigantic leap forward, or back.” Petra looks thoughtfully at the wall before her.

“I believe that little of that matters.  One must be mindful of the past so that we do not make the same mistakes, but, the future or the past, forwards or backwards, it really doesn’t matter.  In this moment, we are exactly what we must be to survive and continue protecting people.”

“When did you get so wise, Pet?” Petra grins at her friend.

“Oh, while you were busy making jokes about flatulence I’d assume.”  They both laugh, then they hear the signal.

“Go time.”

The two use their combined strength to break the wall with the force, entering the laboratory with a hell of a racket.

“Note to self, walls are loud.” Petra says as they enter, Das shakes her head at her friend, glancing around the room.  “Damn, what is all this?”

“Whatever it is, it isn’t good.”  They pull out holomakers and datapads, getting holos of every object along with written observations of each, they had come to the conclusion that a vast amount of them were weapons.  A while later they hear Master Yoda’s voice through their comms.

_“Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ _”_

“We can’t just leave this all here.” Petra tells Das who shakes her head.

“No, we can’t split up!” Petra sighs, though she knows her friend is right.

“Then I hope they can handle things without us, we have to make sure no one takes this stuff out of here.” Orla nods, the two going back to their cataloguing and hoping they are making the right decision.

 

 

“I still don’t like that we have to stay here.” Anakin complains, Arl rolls her eyes.

“Yes Ani, I got that the first time you said it, and if I hadn’t, I’m sure the thousand times after that would have given me a hint.”

“Well damn, sorry, I just don’t like _my Master_ , the one who was kidnapped _because of me_ , you know the _pregnant_ one, is in trouble and _I_ _’m not allowed to help_.” Arl sighs.

“I’m sorry, I just, I don’t like that I am not in there either.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because we are following orders.” Anakin seems even more frustrated with that.

“Wasn’t the thing you hated the most about the old order that it got in the way when you wanted to help people?”

“Yes, but Ani, there is a plan, we would only get in the way.  I understand it is hard, but sometimes the best thing you can do to be helpful, is to stay out of the way until you are needed.”

“I know I just, I feel like this is my fault, I was supposed to be _with_ them.”

“If you had been, we never would have even gotten this far.” She reminds him, he seems slightly mollified, “Besides, if you hate this so much, imagine how Owen feels having to stay at the temple with Clee and Karrya.”  Anakin shudders at the thought.

 _“Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ _”_ Anakin sits up straight, looking to his sister.

“Okay, _now_ we can go, right?” Arl holds the arms of her chair so tightly her knuckles turn white as she shakes her head.

“No.”

“Arleia if this is you trying to protect me…”

“It is but not because you are my brother.  If something has gone wrong, and you die, we have nothing, no way to track them.  We aren’t back up Anakin, we wait until Plan B is called.  Besides,” She says, eyes unfocused, “I think we may be needed here more.”  Anakin doesn’t know what she means by that, but she rarely said anything like that without significant cause, so he fights down his own restlessness and sits to wait.

Five minutes later, they see three people rushing towards the ship, instantly noticing the size of one of them, they know it’s Obi-Wan.

“We need some help out here.” Tholme calls, Arl and Ani rush to the area of the cargo bay they had set up in case of what appears to be happening.

“What’s wrong?” Arl asks, taking in Obi-Wan’s pained expression, Siri looks at her, surprisingly white-faced

“Labour.”

 

 

Tholme and Siri run as stealthily as they can, knowing they have the farthest to travel.  Finally reaching the tree, they stand at the base.

“Think this’ll work?” Tholme asks, Siri smirks darkly.

“It’ll work.”

“You seem sure.”

“I’m not giving it another option than to work.” 

“You know, a few years ago, you were just another Padawan.  Actually, you were just another initiate.”

“What’s your point?”

“How far you have come in so little time, I’m debating if it’s a blessing or a curse.”

“Perhaps you’d better just focus on the mission, we can discuss the morality of my job progression when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan can cuddle up with their baby, daughter, and Padawans on their couch, safely.”

“Tachi, I’ve seen you face down situations before, but this is a drive I have never been witnessed to.  Is there something going on I should know about before we go in there?” Siri seems to debate the situation for a moment.

“When we get back I’m resigning.”

“From the council?” Tholme asks in surprise, she shakes her head.

“From the Order.”

“No one loves their job like you do Siri.” She smiles sadly.

“You know what Arlie talks about, loyalty above duty, duty above all else.” Tholme nods, “I was supposed to quit the day Obi-Wan went missing. Saving he and Quin is the last thing I can do before I leave.  I have a duty to attend to, one I have been ignoring for days in order to save these two, I have to see it through before I go but I do not have time for another attempt.  It’s now, or you have to save them without me.”

“But why?” Siri checks her chrono, ensuring they have time for this discussion, before turning fully to him.

“I have not mentioned this to anyone, it’s not something I’m ashamed of but I don’t appreciate it being known.  I have enough trouble being young and pretty and female and blonde haired, blue-eyed and such.” Tholme nods, “My parents, they’re the rulers of Iego.  My Pops died a few years back leaving Ma in charge, her health is failing though.  Soon my people will need a Queen, and I know nothing of the planet or how it is run.  I don’t know our culture, our people, I need time to learn before she dies.”

“So you are to become the Queen of Iego but you do not even know how to be its princess?”

“I hate the ‘P’ word…but yes, essentially.  I’m the eldest and therefore next in line, when they sent me to the Jedi, the plan was for one of my younger siblings to take the throne, but there are two problems with that.”

“What?”

“For one, they’re twins.” Tholme looks amused though he does understand the dilemma, ruling titles are passed down through a lineage, how do you pass it down when neither is older nor younger.

“What’s the second?”

“They’re thirteen.  Until they are capable of ruling the planet, upholding the peace and treaties with the inhabitants of surrounding moons, and representing our sector of space in the senate, I have no choice but to return home.”  He looks at her sympathetically.

“Perhaps another option will present itself.” She smiles again.

“Much as I appreciate the sentiment, there is only one other option, and if it were going to present itself, it would never have left to begin with.” She tells him sadly, she checks her chrono again. “It’s time.” She says before beginning to climb the tree.  When she and Tholme are ready to make the jump, she sends the signal to all.

They reach the roof and enter the skylight without issue, then they get to the medical bay.

“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF ME!” They hear Obi-Wan yell from a room at the end of the corridor, they rush towards it, cutting down the droids guarding the door.  The two burst through the door, making quick work of all the droids, including the medical droids.

“Obi-Wan!” Siri calls to the man sitting on the bed.

“Your timing is impeccable.  Though in all honesty, destroying the med droid may have been a bad idea.”

“What? Why?” Tholme asks moving over to him, intending to help him up, then Obi-Wan’s hand goes to his stomach as his face contorts in pain.

“Oh shit.” Siri says rather dumbly. “Well this puts a damper on things.” She says trying to think of a way to get him out.  They’d considered having him and a baby, or him going into labour while on the ship, somehow them arriving as he goes into it did not occur to them.  With their luck, it really should have been the first scenario they thought of.

“Well, I am so sorry my going into labour in _inconvenient_ for you.” Obi-Wan bites out as he takes deep breaths, the pain obviously easing, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No, don’t worry about it, you’re in pain and I was insensitive.  We need to get you back to the ship sooner rather than later, this may be a dumb question but, can you walk?” Obi-Wan looks very put out at the suggestion but nods.

“Not quickly, possibly not far or for long, but yes.”

“It’ll have to do.” 

Tholme helps Obi-Wan walk as Siri deals with droids they come across, she throws force lighting when they round a corner to find the way out blocked by a whole lot of droids, and destroys them all at once before using the force to move the debris aside.

“Remind me never to piss you off.” Tholme comments, Siri smiles and winks at him.

“Yes, we are all impressed, could we _please_ hurry?” Obi-Wan asks as he tries to breathe through the latest contraction, despite wanting to do anything _but_ rushing around.

_“Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ _”_

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Tholme says in frustration, both Obi-Wan and Siri look at him in surprise before Obi-Wan contracts in on himself, groaning loudly in pain, obviously trying to keep from yelling.

“ _Please_ _tell me we are nearly there_!” Siri opens the door ahead of them, spotting the ledge the ship was hidden behind, and smiles, glad they risked parking so close.

“We are.”

A few minutes later, she can see the ship, she smiles in relief as Tholme calls out.

“We need some help out here.” Arl and Ani rush into the area of the cargo bay they had set up in case Obi-Wan went into labour on the trip back.

“What’s wrong?” Arl asks, looking at Obi-Wan, then Siri.  Siri realises now how much trouble they are in and feels the blood drain from her face.

“Labour.” She answers, “Out of curiosity, has anyone here delivered a baby before?” She asks as they help Obi-Wan onto the medbed.

“Not since I was four.” Arl replies as Obi-Wan is hit with another contraction.

“WHY THE HELL WERE YOU DELIVERING A BABY WHEN YOU WERE FOUR?!” He yells.

“Slaves don’t exactly get midwives Obi-Wan.  And given that our owner had not been aware of any relationship of Mum’s, we weren’t privileged with him getting us help in anyway.”

“Well, I hope you have a good memory.” Tholme comments, Arlie gulps nervously, but nods.

“Let’s do this.”

 

 

Yoda and Tyranus had the easiest and closest entry point, they hid behind a boulder, eyes on the door as they waited for the signal.

“A long time it has been since a mission together we went on.” Yoda says as they wait, Dooku smiles.

“Indeed it has, My Master.  While I wish it were under better circumstances, I am glad to work with you again.”  They go back to watching the door.

“Something to say you have Padawan?”  Dooku sighs, his former Jedi Master always could see right through him, well, there is the obvious exception.

“It’s been two and a half years since you found out I betrayed the order, betrayed you, and accepted the teachings of a Sith Lord.  We’ve never spoken of it, I thought maybe you’d want to yell at me or speak to me or something, but you never did.” Yoda looks at his former-Padawan, nothing but love and acceptance in his eyes.

“Time to process I needed, questions I did have.  Yet, when done I was realised I did that answered my questions time had.  Why you did it, if something wrong in training you I had done, but learnt I have that nothing wrong I did.  Nothing wrong you did either.  Taught you and raised you to help people I did, done whatever you felt you had to in honour of that teaching you have, be prouder of you I could not be.  Outside the box it was, and an evil man you pledged yourself to, but only good have you done.  A good Jedi you were not, but a good man you have always been.  My Padawan you will always be, and my friend.”  Dooku opens his mouth to reply when they hear the signal, “Go we must, hug you later I will.” He tells his once-Padawan who smiles brightly and nods.

“Once more into the fray my Master.”

They destroy the droid sentries at the door and make their way in, they find the closet with ease and count the seconds.  Three minutes and thirteen seconds later, they leave wondering why exactly they did that but trusting Siri and Xan.  They head down the long hallway as quietly as they could, hiding from droids instead of slicing them apart, and make their way to the throne room. Peering in, they see…a problem.

“We cannot fight Wrath, keep him from the Reality Altering Device, _and_ deal with that many droids.”

“Help we need. _Back up we could use, found Wrath we have in the throne room.  Here the device also is, a heavy grouping of battle droids as well._ ” Yoda tells the group through the comm, then the comm flies from his hand, following it from his eyes, he sees it go straight to Wrath’s waiting hand, then he notices what else is in his hand.  He’d gotten the collar from Dooku.  He crushes the comm and snaps the collar in half as he sits on his throne, looking over to them only once the broken pieces had clattered to the floor.

“Well, I was not expecting guests, but never let it be said that I am not a hospitable host, please, do come in.” He says, Yoda and Dooku exchange glances, realising they have no choice, before walking in. “I was wondering who was destroying my droids…and my base…I assumed Jedi and did hope you would be here dear Apprentice, I was not expecting your other Master.  Tell me Master Yoda, what do you think of our student?  He is powerful, but first he betrayed you, then me, he isn’t really one for loyalty, is he?”

“Well he’s always been loyal to me.” Qui-Gon says as he flies into the room, destroying droids with Micah at his back, “You two deal with him, we’ve got this.” And so a fight begins, it’s actually pretty short lived, because the window behind Wrath smashes.  Suddenly a red blade impales Wrath’s throat, his spirit rising up and manifesting into a stormy cloud above them before he just sort of…gets pushed away and out the now broken window.

“I’ve been looking for this.” Darth Maul announces, sauntering over to the device, Yoda and Dooku leap into action, Yoda going over his head to get between he and the device, Dooku attacking him from behind.

“MAUL!” The Sith in question grins evilly as he force-shoves Dooku into a wall, turning to face the man at the door.

“Ah, my favoured plaything has arrived!” He says sounding genuinely happy, then he mock-frowns, “Though, you do look a little worse for wear.”

“You and I have unfinished business you Bastard.” Quin tells him in a dark voice, sounding strong despite the way he’s swaying on his feet slightly, Maul smiles darkly.

“While I would love to end our earlier scuffle, you interfered with my earlier plans, now I have to make up for lost…time. Well, you know what I mean.”

“Great, another for over explaining time.” Garen grumbles as he moves to join Yoda in protecting the device, Mace staying to help Quin.

“It is not over explaining Ren, it’s understanding it properly.” Quin tells him, Maul smiles.

“Glad to see you were listening when I spoke to you.”

“Kind of hard to ignore the man torturing my partner with a cow poke.”  Suddenly more droids swarm the room, only not just battle droids but assassin droids and commando droids as well.  Quin ignores it, stalking towards Maul.

“I think you’re forgetting something beloved toy.” Maul says before sending a wave of darkness out to Quin who collapses to the ground, vomiting blood.  He wipes it from his mouth when he finishes, glaring up at Maul.

“Beloved?  Careful Maul, you’re getting close to creepy stalker here.”  He says loudly over the sounds of the battle surrounding them, though given that he cannot hear it, perhaps he is just being loud unknowingly again.

“Are you really about to deny that you’ve spent the nine months since you got us stuck here obsessively searching for me?”

“I’m sorry, since _I_ got us stuck here?”

“Well you are the one that tackled me while I was trying to use the Lnneal Fìrinneach.” 

“You’re the one that pressed the force be damned button!”

“Which I wouldn’t have accidentally hit if you hadn’t been struggling with me.”

“Are you two seriously arguing about this?” Mic yells incredulously, not realising Quin cannot hear him, as he fights off a commando droid which Garen then turns and decapitates.

“Tell me Maul, how’s Feral these days?” Quin asks, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth as the arm propping him up gives out, he laughs manically at Maul’s angered expression, “Plagueis still got him?  Or was he uh…disposed of.”  Maul snarls and sends a wave of darkness at him while shooting force-lightening.  He starts screaming, but his distraction works.  Dooku is able to come up behind Maul, and stab him through the heart with his lightsaber, then decapitates him, and cuts of his legs, and then stabs him in the chest and face again.

“Was that all really necessary?” Mic asks him, wide-eyed, it’s then that Dooku sees the last of the droids have been destroyed.

“Yes.”

“Mmkay then.”  They hear more droids coming and exchange looks, “Time to go.”

“Yeah, lez go hommme.” Quin slurs before passing out.

“QUIN!”  Dooku rushes to his lover and reaches for him through the life-bond, “He’s alive, we need to get him out of here.”  He lifts Quin into his arms, bridal style, as the other five leave, defending Dooku and Quin as they go. “ _Hone, Das, where the hell are you two?  We_ _’re getting out of here._ ”

“ _Lord Tyranus, we_ _’ve found labs full of strange weaponry and other devices, some people came to try and arm themselves shortly after your call.  We felt it necessary to ensure no one_ did _manage to get them._ ”

“ _A good call, however now we need to go, so grab what you can, blow the rest of it._ ”

“ _Yes My Lord._ ”

“We found a weird device in the basement that we should probably take as well.” Mic yells over the blaster fire and wooshing lightsabers (I do believe wooshing is the technical term).

“Okay, Mic and I will go get that and meet you back at the ship.” Mace tells them, they all nod before going to the beforementioned locations.

 

Ten minutes later, Yoda, Dooku, Quin, Garen, and Qui-Gon get back to the ship, they find Obi-Wan screaming and crushing Tholme’s hand, Siri attempting to coach him on breathing, Anakin shouting instructions to Arl from the cockpit where they can hear Terza’s voice, and Arl standing between Obi-Wan’s legs looking terrified but like she knows what she is doing.

“Okay Ani, I got it.” Arl calls to him, looking significantly more relaxed.

“Obi-Wan.” Qui-Gon says worriedly, walking over and taking Tholme’s place, Tholme walks a few paces away, rubbing his hand.

“Where the bloody hell have you been!?” Obi-Wan demands angrily.

“Sorry love, I’m here now.” He replies, kissing his lover’s hand, as the contraction ends, Obi-Wan pants but gives him a small smile.

“Garen, will you please go inform Terza she’ll have a patient when we get back…I hope.”  Dooku requests, Garen shoots his unconscious friend a worried look before nodding and complying.

“What happened?” Tholme asks, helping Dooku to lay him on the second cot they’d set up.

“Maul.”


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 

“Maul.”  Tholme looks very pissed off, “He’s very very dead now.”

“Well, while I don’t normally condone such actions, I find myself rather grateful this time.”

 

After that, well, let’s just say it’s a painful wait for the others for everyone.  Das and Petra turn up in speeders with nets holding all kinds of crap attached to the side.

“Well you said grab what we can, right?” Das says to Tyranus’ disbelieving look, he smiles.

“Remind me never to underestimate you.” Das grins.

Two hours, a search party, and several attempted comm calls later, Mace and Mic arrive, except…well they both have beards, and look pretty ragged and in need of a shower, Mace has hair…that’s weird.

“What the…”

“Don’t ask.  Just get us the fuck out of here.” Mace requests, holding up a hand to halt Garen’s question, then the building explodes.  “Quickly.”

Just as they make the atmosphere, there’s a bigger explosion from the surface, they get out of there as fast as they can.

“I am so very glad to say goodbye to Tatooine again.” Anakin tells them all, Arlie nods.

“Oh I don’t know, your nephew was born there afterall.” Obi-Wan says, happily looking down at the infant in his arms, born just a few minutes prior to Mic and Mace returning.

 

 

_“Quin, we were right._ _”_

_“Arlie?  What? Where are you?!_ _”_

_“We were right Quin, we were right!_ _”_

_“About what?  Arl what_ _’s happening?!_ _”_

_“I didn_ _’t want to be right._ _”  He sees her at last, she stands, looking dejectedly out over the balcony in Mace_ _’s quarters.  He goes over and wraps his arms around her.  She sobs into his arms._ _“It_ _’s Quilo, she_ _’s the one doing this.  I don_ _’t know how to stop this.  I can_ _’t kill my Padawan, Quin._ _”_

_“You won_ _’t have to Arl, we_ _’ll find a way to save her._ _”_

_“Like we did Sheev?_ _”  He sighs, wiping away her tears._

_“Did you get Wrath?_ _”  She nods,_ _“Good.  Now we will fix this.  I promise._ _” She still looks distraught,_ _“Trust me._ _”_

_“No hesitation._ _”_

 Quin wakes up in medical on Coruscant, Dooku is asleep in a chair next to the bed, Aayla curled into his side and also asleep.  His Former-Master asleep on the bed beside his.  Qui-Gon walks in the door holding a baby, Quin’s heart melts.

“You’re awake!” Qui-Gon whispers happily, volume low in deference to the sleeping occupants of the room.

“Obi-Wan?”

“Is finally sleeping, thought I’d take this one out for a stroll since he woke up thirty seconds after Little Obi finally stopped fretting enough to go to sleep.  Want to hold him?” Qui-Gon asks, Quin nods enthusiastically, holding his arms out.  Qui shows him how to hold the baby before putting him in his arms.

“Qui, your son is cute as crap!” Qui-Gon chuckles, “You two decided on a name yet?”

“Yeah, you’re holding Sheev Micahl Jinn-Lars.” Quin smiles at the baby.

“I think it’s brilliant.” Qui-Gon smiles proudly at his words, “Hello Little Potato, you look a lot like your Aunt actually.  You see Amidala in Lil Potato’s face?”  Qui peers down at his face before nodding appraisingly.  Quin sees Dooku stirring and uses the force to swat his shoulder, he sits up straighter. “Hey honey, can we get one?  They’re cute as shit.” Dooku looks from him to the baby and back again.

“Quin I think you’ll find several biological hurdles in your plan.” Quin chuckles.

“We could adopt, or kidnap a Little Potato of our own.”

“We have a Padawan, we can get another.”

“Yeah but not while they’re Potato’s.”

“I’m seventy-one, I am far too hold to have a po-a baby.”  Quin grins at the near slip.

“But…cute!” Dooku sighs.

“Tell you what, we’ll talk about it when you’re released.”  Quin grins, before smiling sweetly down at the baby who gurgles up at him.

“Hang on, why can I hear you guys?”  The two exchange looks that he nearly misses, transfixed by the little face below him.

“We were sort of hoping you could tell us.  You died Quin, on the transport here.  Then there was white light, and then you were back, and fine.”  Arlie tells him as she and Terza walk into the room.  Suddenly Quin’s eyes tear up, he looks at them both, smiling so very very widely.

“What?  You know what happened?” Dooku asks him desperately wanting to know.  He had been so frightened.

“Yes, I do.  Let’s just say I have friends in high places.” Arlie cocks an eyebrow at him, nodding slowly in recognition of the familiar sentence.  “So what happened after I passed out, and possibly a bit before, things are admittedly a little fuzzy.”

“I am not surprised.  Well, Maul is dead, gods know what happened to Wrath, but he’s lost his main…err…vessel.  Sorry Qui-Gon.”

“At least we all have good shields now and know the new one is no one in the Order.”  They all nod before Quin stops smiling down at the baby.

“Wrath’s dead.  His soul was destroyed.”  They look at him in surprise, he just nods at them. 

“So, is that it then?  Maul, Wrath, the device, they’re all gone?”  Quin sighs, expression hardening.

“Yes, they are.  But our job is far from over.”

“Of course it is.”

“I know who the other entity is, the one we’ve spent years trying to work out how to destroy.”

“So now what then?” Arlie asks him, he smiles at her.

“Now we find out how to save her.”

 

 

“You want to what?!” Mace asks in disbelief, he’d buzz cut his hair, but it’s still there, his facial hair groomed into a neat goatee.  Mic had just neatened his full beard enough to be presentable.

“I want to find a way to take away the other entity’s power without hurting her.”

“Why?” Mic asks, Quin just looks at them both for a moment.

“Okay seriously, what’s with the beards?  I wasn’t out that long, was I?” Dooku snickers from his seat, beside Quin and holding his hand.

“No Dear, four days.”

“Right, so, beards?”

“Let’s just say, that when one stumbles upon an artefact in a Dark Sith’s lair, don’t try and transport it out.  Even without touching it, weird shit can happen.”

“Can we reduce the swearing around my infant child please?” Obi-Wan requests, he’d demanded to be allowed to come along to this meeting, given the stressful events surrounding the birth, Terza had agreed so long as he remained seated and did nothing too strenuous.  Which she could keep an eye on since she’s there too.

“And around our Padawan.” Mic tells Mace pointedly, he smiles sheepishly, the Padawan in question seated on Arlie’s lap along with Ani, giggles.

“Okay, so we have, for all intents and purposes, a Dark Force and a Light Force.  One that means harm and one that wishes to help.  Correct?” Valorum questions, he had not been able to attend the actual meeting, but he had holo-called in.

“…I…suppose.” Quin says as he thinks it over.

“Do we need to interfere? Things seem rather balanced at the moment, if we interfere and fail, we are left in darkness, if left at all.”  Finis asks, Ani looks up suddenly.

“It’s not balance.” Obi-Wan very slowly lifts his head to look at his Padawan in shock.

“What did you just say?” He asks in a loud whisper, Anakin looks confused.

“It’s not balance.”  Obi-Wan looks to Arl who was looking wide-eyed at her brother as well.

“What do you mean Ani?” Arl asks hesitantly, no one else had any idea what the two were freaking out about, but then again, neither had mentioned the prophecy in regards to him before, not in this timeline.

“It’s equal, but if it were balanced, there wouldn’t be sides, it’d be smoothed over.”

“Anakin what are you talking about?” Owen asks him, completely lost, as are the others, including Arlie and Obi.

“Well, it’s like, um, rainbow ice-cream.  But not the one in strips, the marbled one.  The strips are equal, but they have borders, sometimes colours cross over, it’s war.  The marbled one is balanced, everything is everywhere and smoothed over, no borders, it’s…peace.”

“Do…you know how to create this…peace?” Arl asks, he tilts his head to the side, like he is listening to something.

“If you want to marble it, you need two colours.”  He says as though it is obvious.

“So…you’re telling me, that we need one who is light, and one who is dark, to create one force, and then the force will be balanced?” Mace asks delicately, the table seems to hold their breath, Ani nods unthinkingly before the words catch up to him and he groans.

“Not again.  I am not a damned prophecy!” He complains, Obi looks concerned.

“You remember that?” He asks, Anakin looks at him like he’s an idiot.

“I could remember only one moment of my life at this temple and I’d remember that.” Obi-Wan nods, conceding to his point, and bounces the sleeping baby in his arms when Sheev starts fussing.

“If…if it gets…marbled, the two won’t exist separately anymore?” Quin asks, Ani shrugs.

“By the sounds of it, their consciousnesses will be dispersed and intermixed until it’s just energy and power.” Owen replies, Garen frowns.

“Well fuck that, no.”

“I’m sorry?” Mic asks as Obi glares at him for the language.

“Sorry Obi, but no.  We aren’t doing that.”

“Quin, be smart, we don’t have another option.” Arlie tells him, he gives her his best bitch face (It’s pretty bitchin.)

“I am smart!”

“Oh please, if brains were gasoline, you wouldn’t be able to fuel a flea go-cart for two laps around a cheerio.”  The table just looks at her like she’s insane, which, I mean, fair enough.

“Imma assume you insulted me and tell you to shut up.  The Force is a friend of mine, and it wants the Anti-Force saved.  So that is what I am going to do.”

“And what does the Force want here?  If it knew that this was our only option, that it was prophesised, what would it say then?  A prophecy, so literally the will of the Force, what do you think it would tell you?”  Quin looks at them all in turn, debating with himself before locking eyes with Yoda, the troll nods.

“She’d likely tell us that sometimes you have to make the Force listen to you.” They all seem surprised and unsure what to make of that, unsurprisingly, it’s Arl that catches on first.

“I died, you said someone died and became the Force.” He nods, her breath catches, everyone looks in varying stages of shock.  “I asked you where you recognised me from…you said your Master created the order, and the theories about the Creator creating the force…but it’s not true…the Creator _is_ the Force.  The Creator is me…” She says looking to Yoda who smiles sadly, “A version of me anyway.”

“So wait, Arl’s the Force and she trained Yoda?  Or a version of her, the pre-divergent timeline version?” Bant asks, “Who’s the Anti-Force?  Why does Force-Arlie want to save her?”  Quin looks to his lap.

“I don’t know if it happened here, but Anakin once told us that everyone was capable of doing anything given the right circumstances, that we couldn’t just rule someone out as a suspect because we trusted them.  From that I learnt that those we trust most are in the perfect position to hurt us the most if they were to turn against us.  In this case that is especially true.  Now I do not know how the power was granted to her, nor what finally pushed her over the edge.  But when Arl left, when she came back here, she left a Padawan behind.” Arl’s head snaps round to look at him.

“Quinlan if you are about to suggest…”

“I am not suggesting Arleia, I know.” He snaps, “You left her, Obi went crazy, Mic had to leave, she was alone.  She left the farm, Obi-Wan never saw or heard from her again.  Who knows what happened after that, but it’s her.  After all, she’s the only one who knows what happened with Reeft and Bellan, she knows how much your Master’s opinion means to you because she saw how much his anger hurt you during the war, she knows how much you care for your brother because she saw you go to Naboo and stay to defend it even when you shouldn’t have.  Saw you watch over him through out the entire war, and saw the aftermath of that betrayal.  That’s not all, there’s other things that are only relevant to Force-you, but you should also know, that Force-you went and checked to be sure.  Quilo is the Other Entity Arl, I’m sorry, but it’s true.” Arl has tears streaming down her face as something occurs to her.

“I did it again.” She whispers, they all look to her in confusion, “I left my family for people I might never have found again, just like when I left Earth.”

“No Arl, you didn’t leave your family, you simple wanted to save all of it.” She looks to Quin surprised, “My friend, I have known you for a long time now, a few versions of you, but no matter what, one thing stays the same.  Your ability to love everything no matter what.  You love things because you understand, better than most, that everyone is capable of doing good and bad things, no matter the choices they have made before.  But you choose to constantly believe that they will make the right one this time.  You love everything because of the amazing potential you can see it all happening, you love a seed because of the flower you know it to be capable of blooming into it.  You came back here to save your brother, sacrificed yourself and possibly your happiness to save your family here.  You went looking for Garen to save him from himself even at your own cost, you wanted to save your brother because even after slaughtering half the temple, you _knew_ there was good in him because there is in everyone.  You choose to see the potential good instead of the bad that has already occurred, in everyone but yourself.  You see the selfish side of all your decisions, and it blinds you to the motivation for every decision you have ever made, good or bad.  All your choices are born of love.  You did the right thing both times because you did it for the right reasons, to protect and save the ones you love.  You never left behind someone in danger, only those already safe to save those who weren’t.”  Quin tells her honestly, she chuckles a little.

“You know, I read a fanfiction once, and there was this guy who could come up with these amazing and inspirational speeches on the spot, without fail, every time.  I thought it impossible in real life, I could not have been more wrong.”  She says with a grateful smile.

“He is good at that.” A voice says from the doorway, they all turn to look and see grown-up pre-divergent timeline Arl, in all her forcely glory, “Knock Knock?”

“Arl?” Quin asks, walking over and hugging the fifty-four/15’592-year-old version of his friend before him.

“Hi, heard you trying to explain things, thought I’d lend a hand now that the immediate danger is gone.”

“Damn, I grow up to be hot!” Arlie comments, Mace facepalms as Mic starts laughing, Xanatos fondly shaking his head and Garen just unashamedly looks over at Force-Arl and nods.

“Yep.” Arl laughs at her best friend, as does Force-Arl.

“Now Quinlan, the next time someone is fiddling with a reality altering device, don’t blasted tackle them you moron!”

“Hey!  I didn’t know it could do that, you said it could destroy you.”

“Yes, but as the Chancellor pointed out, that was unlikely to be its only function, counter-productive as it would be.  Even if it was, you could’ve killed me!”

“That’s what I was trying to prevent actually.”  Force-Arl goes to argue more before just taking a deep breath and calming down, looking serene as Quin is far more use to seeing.

“I suppose it does not matter anymore.” She tells him, then she sees everyone still staring at her gobsmacked.

“Arl, is that timeline still going on?  Like the first timeline?” Quin asks, she smiles calmly at him.

“Quin, you didn’t travel through time, reality was altered.  The other one doesn’t exist anymore.” She tells him, “Must you all keep staring?”  They all awkwardly look away, “Padawan!” She calls happily, seeing Yoda hobbling up to her.

“Master.” He says with a bow, she kneels down to hug him.

“How are you Youngling?”

“Did she just call Master Yoda a youngling?” Garen asks in surprise, Quin grins at him.

“She’s over fifteen thousand years old Ren.” His eyes go wide.

“Damn, you look fucking good for you age.”  She smiles at him as young Arl laughs.

“Garen, seriously, sensitive ears.” Garen rolls his eyes.

“He can’t understand us Obi-Wan!”

“So break the habit now, you shouldn’t be swearing around my Padawans and Asi anyway.”

“Oh my gods baby!” Force-Arl cries happily, clapping and jumping slightly.

“Yeah, it’s Arl.” Dooku comments, both versions glare at him.

“Want to hold him?” Obi offers, trusting Arl, every version, completely.  She nods happily and takes the baby, holding him with ease.

“Hiya Lil guy, what’s your name?” She asks the child.

“You know he can’t talk, right?” Xan comments, she eskimo kisses the baby.

“Well how would you like it if we directed questions about you to your Master instead of you while you are right here?” He sighs at her, she grins triumphantly as younger her pokes her tongue out at him.

“His name is Sheev, Sheev Micahl Jinn-Lars.”

“Or as I call him, Little Potato.” Quin adds, Arl smiles down at the baby.

“Sheev Jinn-Lars, you are one of the cutest things I have ever laid eyes on my dear.”  The baby babbles at her, she smiles wider.

“You have kids, shouldn’t you think they’re cuter, isn’t that like a mandatory part of parenthood?” Quin asks, She smiles at him like he’s just said something adorable.

“I said one of, besides, all babies are as adorable as each other.  It’s when they grow up that makes the difference.”

“Still think you do that adorable everyone looks in their own way.” Yoda points out, she nods.

“True, but I tend to see them through the force instead of through their physical form because it’s hard to maintain that focus, but this Little Potato here, is adorable in the force and in the physical form, isn’t that right Little Po.” She says to the baby as she tickles his tummy and makes funny faces, the child’s amusement at her resonates through the force.

“You have a child?” Arl asks her in surprise, “Thought we weren’t gonna do that?”  Force-Arl smiles patiently at her as she bounces the baby in her arms.

“Things change kid, you’ll get there one day.  Or maybe you won’t, and that’s okay too.  Circumstances are very different.  Honestly, after Obi-Kin was born, I thought I’d never have another kid.  Didn’t turn out that way either.”

“How many kids do you have?” Force-Arl thinks about it.

“Eight.”

“What are their names?” Arl asks looking delighted suddenly, Force-Arl grins like she knows exactly why, Quin supposes she probably does.

“Obi-Kin, Shmina, Codex, Owena, Patriic, Eartha, Macey, and Meeka.”  Garen and young Arl look a each other before laughing until they can’t breathe.

“Macey…and Meeka…”

“I missed the younglings and my Masters, it seemed appropriate.” Force-Arl tells them, Mic meanwhile, has buried his face in his hands while Qui-Gon attempts not to laugh as he remembers where exactly she got those names from.

“So Obi-Kin, Obi-Wan and Anakin, Shmi, Mum, Codex…Cody and Rex, Owena, Owen, Patriic, Trick, Eartha, Earth, and Macey and Meeka, Mace and Mic.” Garen sums up, remembering Cody and Rex being mentioned, the two Arls nod.

“Now, I believe we have more important things to discuss than my children.” Force-Arl comments.

“We have time, you are staying, aren’t you?” Quin asks her, she looks at him blankly, he sighs. “Arleia Skywalker…”

“You already have an Arl here…”

“…This is your home as well.”

“…There cannot be two of me Quinlan!”

“Sure there can be, we’ll just go by different names.” Arl says as though it is obvious, Force-Arl raises an eyebrow. “Well, I go by Arl Aa, a lot of people don’t even know my birth name.  You could go be Arleia Skywalker or something.”

“But everyone knows you’re Anakin’s sister.”

“So we change the Skywalker, what about Holp?” Arl suggests, Dooku debates the wiseness of the action before he speaks up with his own suggestion.

“What about Arleia Damask?  Or Lei for short.”  Both Arls look to him in shock before they look to each other.

“I like it.” Arlie tells her counterpart, the older her sighs.

“So many reasons I should not be staying.”

“We can tell everyone the truth about most of it.  All of it if you want.  But if you want less weirdness, just leave off the time travel and leave it at Lei Damask, immortality and Force and Creator and Yoda’s Master.” Mace suggests.

“You want to be around for your nephew, don’t you?” Obi-Wan asks when she goes to protest again, she looks down at Sheev again and knows she’s lost.

“Lil Po’s just so damned cute!”

“I’m sure he’d like his Aunty Lei around, and his Aunty Arlie.” Qui-Gon tells her surely, Lei sighs.

“Fine.” They all grin triumphantly. “But we leave out the time travel?” Arlie nods in agreement.

“What about Mum and Dad?” Owen questions.

“Tell them the truth, they took it well enough last time.” Quin reminds Lei, she nods but looks to Arlie who also nods.

“Po’s hungry by the way Little Obi.” Lei tells him a second before Sheev starts crying.

“Still want one?” Dooku asks Quin sarcastically, he seems to debate the question before grinning and nodding rapidly, Dooku sighs and drops his head into his hands.

“Oh come on, how hard can it be?  It’s not like we sleep anyway, what with you being a complete workaholic and me a caff addict.  Just water the Potato and it’ll be fine.”  Dooku looks at him like he’s nuts.

“You are trying to give me a migraine, aren’t you?”

“Little bit, but I’m serious about adopting a Little Potato.”

“I might be more inclined to take you seriously if you’d stop referring to infants as vegetables.”

“How are we going to find Quilo?” Arlie asks, Lei bites the end of her thumb for a moment as she thinks.

“I do not know.  But Quin, we do need to disperse our consciousnesses.”

“A…Lei, no.”

“You can’t let our Padawan do that!” Arl objects, Lei looks at her sadly.

“Arlie, she’s hurting people.  That dream, she sent it.  They are her eyes.  It is not us that is in danger, it is everyone around us.  Do you want that on your head?  Because I do not.”

“There _has_ to be another way.”

“We are out of options.”

“Then make another one!  That’s what we do!”

“Things change Arl.”

“We promised.  Never again would we just accept that we didn’t know how to do something.  Of all the promises you have ever gone back on, are you going to go back on one to yourself as well?”

“I do not know what else to do.”

“If we cannot answer a question, there is more yet to be learned.”

“But we _can_ answer it, it just is ot an answer you want to hear.  We do not always get what we want Arl.”

“Yes, I am aware of that!  If we always got we want I wouldn’t have scars on my back from months of torture that didn’t happen!  You want to tell me something isn’t possible, explain to me how the words he engraved on my skin remain.”

“Because Quilo knew it would hurt more than the torture.”

“And what did it become instead?” Lei opens her mouth before snapping it shut again.

“A warning.”

“A warning of what happens when we let power get ahead of us, when we play God, when we let an enemy win, when we become complacent, when we think we know everything.  A warning of how bad things get when we stop fighting.  Some people just want to watch the world burn, those words became a promise that we never would again.  You want to save reality, so save all of it.  Just this once Lei, everybody lives.”  Lei nods slowly, but acceptingly.

“If there is a possible way to do so, we will find it.”

“What words?” Xanny asks looking concerned.

“Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion I gain strength,

Through strength I gain power,

Through power I gain victory,

Through victory, my chains are broken,

The force shall free me.” The two quote, Obi-Wan’s eyes go wide.

“Oh damn.”

“He carved that onto your _back_?” Garen questioned Arlie, she swallows harshly and nods, clearly uncomfortable, Lei seems perfectly at ease.

“Can’t imagine your life-bondeds were happy when they saw that.” Quin comments without thinking, Lei turns to him looking unhappy.

“Well, you could ask them, if only someone had not _altered reality_.” He grimaces.

“Oops.” She waves him off.

“I would have lost them eventually anyway, I live on, remember.”

“Don’t do that again, don’t pretend you don’t care.” Lei looks to the ground, when she looks up, the pain of a thousand losses is clear in her eyes, Quin almost regrets his words.

“I care Quin, I care that I lost them.  I just choose to care more about having gained them at all.  I’ve lived it both ways with them, believe me, it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.  At least this way I know they loved me too, even if they don’t anymore.” He nods, looking upset, he hugs her again, “It’s not your fault Quin, honestly this isn’t even Maul’s.  Neither of you meant for this to happen.” He nods.

“Yeah I know, I just wish you could catch a break every now and then.”  She smiles understandingly.

“That _was_ my break.  But break time is over.  So now we work out how to safely stop Quilo.”  Everyone in the room feels a renewed sense of determination, mostly just so that the woman before them could come home.

“How did she gain her power?” Valorum asks, Lei frowns.

“Mother Talzin.  Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Bant asks.

“Well, Mother Talzin used her grief, amplified it until she just couldn’t cope.  Then she tried to use an artefact to imbibe Quilo with power beyond even her own, hoping to use the girl as a vessel or a conduit to drain.  But something went rather ridiculously wrong.  You see, the night brothers attacked the night sisters right in the middle of the ritual, Quilo was screaming when the ruckus sent the tiny amulet flying.  It went into her mouth, she accidentally swallowed it.”

“…She…swallowed it…” Mic says slowly as though trying to comprehend the words, Lei winces and nods.

“Of all the things I have seen in my 15’592 years, that had to be the most unlucky and ridiculous thing…ever.”

“Can we remove it?” Arl asks, Lei shakes her head.

“The power sort of…soaked into her, but you can’t be the way she is and still be alive.  Just like I can’t.” Arlie nods, not all that surprised.

“What if we get her DNA, grow a clone body, pull the consciousness from her being and put it in the clone body, and then get her to see a mind-healer?  She’ll have no extra power and be able to work through her issues.” Garen suggests jokingly, Lei, Arl, and Quin exchange looks.

“I do not know enough about meta-physical minds to make a call on that, but Xanny does.” Arl tells her, turning to look at her friend who is rolling his chair back and forth as he thinks.

“It’s possible, but something needs to be done with the energy.” He tells them.

“I can absorb it.” Lei tells them, Quin raises an eyebrow, “I absorbed a sentient mind and gave myself a consciousness, yet gaining power in such a way surprises you?” He gives her a look like saying, ‘yeah that’s fair enough’.

“Okay then, we have a plan of attack.  Now we need her DNA, a cloning tank, and her.” Arl says happily, they were going to do it, they would save her Padawan, and she’ll finally have succeeded in her promise to her Mentor.

“Also, Lei, Xanny?”  Quin says questioningly, Arl looks confused at the comment, as does everyone else, including Xan, but the Force seems to understand.

“Yes, of course, Xanny, how would you like your legs back?”


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 **Disclaimer** **–** Apart from story line and a few OCs, Star Wars is obviously, though sadly, not mine.  Rights to Lucas, also there are references to a movie named Dinotopia and also to Harry Potter.  I cannot quite remember where in the story they are so I’ll just add it every chapter.  It talks about the code they have for life on Dinotopia, and I blatantly quote Hermione at some point. **Here!  I found it!  The Hermione quote is here!** Also, there’s a Doctor Who reference.  **Enjoy!**

 

“Xanny, how would you like your legs back?”

 

That had been a week ago, now the group goes to commissary for dinner, seated around the table in seating order is Clee, Xan, Garen, Arl, Dooku, Aayla, Quinlan, Tholme, Siri, Obi-Wan/Sheev, Karrya, Qui-Gon, Owen, Danvire, Bellan, Reeft, Bant, Tahl, Terza, Thelm, Junahl, Mace, Asajj, Mic, Depa, Adi, Lei, and Rastor.

“And to think, there used to be just four of us.” Lei comments as she looks around the room, Arl snickers.

“I was just thinking that.”

“And we’re still waiting on Yoda.” Mic tells them, they all chuckle just as the Master in question hobbles in.

“I cannot believe you still have that damned stick Padawan.” Lei laughs, Yoda smiles.

“If going to break it were, a long time ago it would have been.” She nods, conceding.

“What’s the story with the stick?” Clee asks, Lei grins as Yoda buries his face in his claws after taking the final empty seat, in between Rastor and Xan.

“So I kept threatening to hit him with a stick, which, when he was a child, made him listen because anytime I said that, it was a sign he was going too far.  Then teenaged Yoda goes too far and I say it again, only this time, he storms out of the quarters and I’m thinking, ‘yeah, I’ll wait for him to get back and then ground his little green ass’, anyway, he walks back in five minutes later with a stick, hands it to me and dares me to do it.”  She tells them, the entire table laughs, “When I left the order I had the stick converted into a walking stick and gave it to him before I left, in case I didn’t see him again before he needed it.  Said that it was his turn to keep troublesome Padawans in line. I hadn’t even realised it was the same stick until it had been shortened and carved.”

“Yoda as a teenager, I just can’t picture it.” Garen tells them, Lei smirks and Yoda starts shaking his head so hard his ears slap the back of his head and his face.

“He was a real troublemaker.”

“As bad as my youngest Padawan I was not.” Mace mock glares at his Former-Master, Dooku laughing at his brother-Padawan.

“True, you never purposely gave the duchess of Mandalore a substance she’s fatally allergic to.” Mace glares at her, she grins, he pokes his tongue out at her, she laughs.

“I forget sometimes that you two had the same Master.” Xanatos comments, looking from Mace to Dooku, Garen snickers.

“I forget we did, sometimes, too.” Xan’s eyes go wide.

“Oh my gods we did.” Suddenly he looks thoughtful, “If one is a Watcher and one is a Sith, are they still brother-Padawans?  Or brother-Apprentices?  What do Sith call that relationship?”

“Competition.”  Dooku replies, there’s a beat of silence before everyone is in varying states of laughter, save for Lei, who is merely smiling contently.

“What’s that look for?” Quin asks her, she smiles peacefully at him.

“Just realising that I caught another break.”

 

 

“How plan to do you pull your Padawan’s consciousness from her?” Yoda asks his former-Master later that night, she’s been staying in his quarters in the Padawan suite, the two thought it funny, waking up in their shared quarters once more, only in opposite rooms.  They are sat cross-legged on the floor drinking tea, Lei takes a sip out of her mug as she thinks about it.

“I am going to have to face her while she is in human form as well.  Then it is a relatively simple process, just sort of, yank it out. Like you would a possessing spirit.”

“And if fails it does?” His Master ponders this for a while.

“Then we have two options.  Assuming she does so and becomes a threat again, we can either do as the prophecy suggests and have the both of us disperse our consciousnesses, or I can contain her.”

“Do so how would you?”

“Put her in the in-between, she will not know how to get out.” He frowns at her.

“Troubled by that you seem?” She sighs.

“Just reminds me of a dream I once had Padawan mine.”

 

 

_“They never saw my vision._ _”_

_“Arlie, uh, Lei, you realise you can just come up to me in real life now, right?_ _” Quin complains as he buries his face in his hands, she smirks._

_“Would you rather I woke you up to have this conversation?_ _”_

_“It can_ _’t wait til morning?_ _”_

_“I_ _’ll have forgotten about it by then my friend._ _” He sighs._

_“No, they have never seen your vision, Arlie never became you so she never showed it._ _”_

_“My Former-Padawan asked me what I planned to do if our plan to save Quilo fails.  My first response was to fulfil the prophecy of the Chosen One.  The second was to trap her in the in-between._ _” He looks concerned._

_“But if you do that, and she really is the angry creature crawling out of the in-between, not only will part of your, rather horrendous, vision come true, you_ _’ll also have created a monster._ _” She nods._

_“The last part of my vision, given recent events, has taken on a whole new meaning.  Me telling myself I should never have come back.  I always assumed it was just me realising I shouldn_ _’t have come back in time.  What if it_ _’s Arlie telling me I shouldn_ _’t have returned here._ _”_

_“And what if Arlie turns against us and tries to destroy the Jedi, sacrificing her brother to do so.  What if Dooku turns against us again, what if Garen leaves you to die.  We cannot account for everything Lei, we take the warning into account and continue on._ _” She sighs and nods._ _“You_ _’re too stressed, how does the force relax?_ _”_

_“Do not know, I don_ _’t_ get _stressed when I_ _’m not in this form.  I don_ _’t remember how to deal with it._ _”  Quin ponders it for a moment before grinning._

_“Can you still get drunk?_ _” She narrows her eyes slightly as she smiles._

_“I do not actually know._ _”_

_“Wanna wake up and find out?_ _” She shrugs._

_“Sure._ _”_

They meet at the Temple’s main entrance and go out to live with Coruscant’s nightlife.  Deciding to go see if Cliegg is working in the bar, they get an aircab and go to the other side of town to ‘Norman’s’.

“Arleia!  Look at you all grown up, you know Shmi is not happy that you haven’t come round to visit yet.” Cliegg says when they get there, walking out from behind the bar to hug her and clap Quin on the back.  The two take a seat at the bar as he returns behind it, serving another patron before returning to the two of them. “To be honest, I think she still can’t quite believe there are two of you now.”

“Well why don’t you both come to the temple for dinner tomorrow night?  Or I can go to your apartment.  I miss you guys, to be honest, it’s kind of…been a while for me.”

“So Arl and Obi said.” She knew they’d spoken to their parents, she’s very surprised they believed it though. “How’s he doing anyway?  With his father…you know.”  She grimaces.

“To be honest, I think he hasn’t had a chance to deal with it, too busy with Po.” Cliegg raises an eyebrow at his step-daughter.

“Po?” She snickers as Quin explains.

“It’s short for Potato, I started calling Baby Sheev ‘Little Potato’ which then devolved into ‘Lil Po’ and now just ‘Po’.”

“Yes, I have not even met my Grandson yet, I think I shall see if Shmi would like to go to the Temple for dinner afterall, kidnap our Grandson.”

“You’d be hard-pressed to get the kid out of Little Obi’s arms, given everything that happened when he was little, he’s being paranoid about being separated from the Little Potato.  We’d like to tell him he’s being ridiculous, but given everything that’s happened…”  Cliegg nods at Quin, understanding what he’s saying.

“Well, maybe Shmi can work some maternal magic, anyway, I’m assuming you didn’t come here to chat so, what’s up?”

“Well, actually, we came to see if Lei can get drunk and this seemed like the best place to do it.” Quin tells the man honestly, Cliegg looks at them both in thinly veiled disappointment and amusement, they both grin innocently at him, he rolls his eyes and holds out his hands.

“Lightsabers.”  They hand them over, “What can I get ya?”

 

 

A few hours later Cliegg looks over to the two and sighs, “Well that answers that question.” He mutters to himself as he walks over.

“Okay, I’m cutting you two off and calling an aircab.” Quin hiccups.

“But we fiiiine.”

“Nuhuh, yur blood alhol conten is sah high m’surprised you still conscious.” Quin looks at Lei in surprise.

“M’still conscious?” Lei giggles at him, Quin giggles back.

“Okay I take it back, I’m calling Mace to come get you.” Cliegg decides, dialling his friend.

“ _Windu_.” Cliegg’s glad it doesn’t sound like he woke the man up, but now he’s concerned who else is in the room with him.

“Mace it’s Cliegg, Arl…er…Lei, and Quin came to the bar a few hours ago.  I was about to call them an aircab but I think you’d better come get them yourself.”  He hears the other man sigh.

“ _We_ _’re on our way._ ” Cliegg looks over at Lei and sees her finger move slowly towards Quin’s face before poking his nose.

“Boop.” They both laugh hysterically, he chuckles and shakes his head.

 

Half an hour later, Mace and Arlie walk into the bar.

“No Mic?”

“He stayed with Asajj in case she wakes up, otherwise she’ll panic.” Cliegg nods before gesturing over to the two.

“Arleia?” Mace calls, touching Lei’s shoulder, she jerks round, smiling.

“Moo Moo!” She calls, lunging forwards to hug him and just about falling off the stool in the process, he manages to stabilise her as he hugs her back.

“Hello Padawan.” He says, chuckling at her enthusiasm, “You know I don’t think you’ve ever been so happy to see me.” He comments to Arl who chuckles as she checks on Quin who appears to have passed out at the bar, she sighs, shaking her head.

“They said they came to see if she could still get drunk, it didn’t really take much but they kept drinking.”

“Well I always have been a lightweight.” Arl muses.

“I lovu Masta, n I wan you ta know tha I real appreschate evrythink you’v’ver done fr’meh.” Lei slurs as she snuggles into his chest, he wraps his arms around her more securely.

“I love you as well My former-Padawan.”

“Onca Padan, always a Pawan.” She mutters, he tries not to laugh at her.

“We should get them home.”

Mace picks Quin up, carrying him out to the vehicle they acquired from the temple before coming and helping Lei stumble to the car, Arl cursing her height once again and her inability to help.  Arl comms Garen on the way and asks him to meet them at the garage, he’s there when they pull in.

“What’s going on?” He asks.

“Stupid friend and equally idiotic counterpart of mine decided to go get smashed and not tell anyone they were leaving.” Arl explains.

“In their defence, they did go to Norman’s.” Arl nods, conceding the point.  Garen guides the now half-conscious Quin back to his quarters as Mace brings Lei to his quarters and lays her on the couch.

Mic raises an eyebrow, walking out of his bedroom when he hears them entering.

“Garen took Quin back to his room, they’re both fine.” Mace tells him, he nods looking relieved until he notices the look on Arlie’s face.

“What’s wrong Padawan?” Arl bites her lip before shaking her head.

“Probably nothing, but I think I need to have a conversation with…well…myself, when she wakes up.”

 

 

“How on Earth are we going to get Quilo to take on human form when she knows to do so would give me the power to stop her?” Lei mutters literally the second she wakes up, Arlie raises an eyebrow at her counterpart, despite the fact that she’s yet to open her eyes.

“I don’t know Arleia.  We’ll think about it later, for now, what the hell were you thinking?” Lei looks over to her in confusion.

“All right, so we probably should not have had so much to drink…”

“I don’t mean that, though also that.  I mean, never in times of stress, remember?” Lei rolls her eyes, instantly regretting the action, before she heals herself and sits up.

“Arl, I’m literally ancient, I think I can monitor myself now.”

“Technically this is me monitoring myself.”

“Arlie, if I did not believe it would be fine, I would not have done it.”

“We made that rule for a reason Lei!”

“Some rules need to be a bit more flexible.”

“Not that one.  Never that one.” The two glare at each other. “Tell me dealing with stress had nothing to do with this, honestly, and I’ll let it go.” Arleia breaks eye contact, Arl feels like she would look smug if she weren’t internally panicking.

“You are far too paranoid about this Arl.  If I were going to fall back down that rabbit hole, it would have been a long time ago.”

“Right, because you frequently find out that your Padawan is trying to kill you.”

“Better than when I found out my son had wanted me dead and created the Sith to make it happen.” Arl raises an eyebrow.

“And when was that?” Lei sighs.

“Time is weird for me, but based on days I spent in this form and thus with emotion between now and then?  Maybe three or four…” Arl sighs and gets off the coffee table to sit on the couch beside her…whatever Arleia is to her.

“I cannot imagine how hard that must be, nor can I imagine the circumstances behind it.  But I _do_ know how you feel about Quilo.  We should have put our foot down, should never have taken her as our Padawan.  We should have stayed at the farm, we should have gone back to that future when we realised we could.” Arlie takes Lei’s hand in her own. “We did what we felt was right at the time, and we realised long ago that was going to have to be enough.” Lei nods.

“Yeah, you’re right, I promise, no more allowing myself to be dragged along with this particular avenue of Quin’s bad ideas.” Arl chuckles and nods.

“Good.”  They sit in silence for a while, both caught up in their own thoughts when suddenly both chuckle at the same time before looking at each other.

“Do you think we both just chuckled at the same thought?” They ask simultaneously before laughing.  The laugh was different though, Lei’s far more graceful and controlled, Arlie’s harsher and freer.

“Given how often we get lost in thought, we’ll no doubt spend hours just daydreaming at some point?” Lei asks, Arl nods, they both chuckle.

“So I’ve been thinking, you should officially join the Watcher ranks.” Lei groans at the name.

“That is _such_ a bad name.”

“Lemme guess, you’re a fan of Custus?”

“It’s Cust _os_.”

“It’s Levi- _oh_ -sa not Levio- _sah_.” Lei glares at Arlie who chuckles.

“You are a nightmare, honestly.”

“No wonder I/you haven’t got any friends.”  They both laugh.

“I am going to go back to Earth at some point, get copies of the best movies, and then come back and binge watch it all.”

“I’ll buy a shit tonne of popcorn… _is_ there popcorn in this universe?” Arleia considers Arl’s question.

“I…haven’t come across it, but I haven’t exactly been _everywhere_ so it is entirely possible.  In any case, we know how to make it, so it’ll be fine.”  They sit in silence for a while longer.

“What does Cust _os_ mean?” Lei shakes her head fondly at the inflection.

“It means Guardian, in the Ancestral Language.”

“Ch’blanc, right?” Lei nods. “Well, I run the subsect of the Watchers whose mandate is to protect you, we’re your guardians, and we do not have an official name, how about we use Custos?” Lei smiles and nods.

“Sounds good.”

“You should join us.  Then you could take Rastor as your Novitiate.  I know you’ve wanted too.”  Lei raises an eyebrow at the term.

“Novitiate?”

“Well the Sith have Apprentices/Lords.  Jedi have Padawans/Knights/Masters.  Watchers wanted something of their own.  Novitiates or Novices/Bannerets/Preceptors.”

“Huh, we never did that pre-divergent timeline.” Arlie shrugs.

“I like naming things.” Lei chuckles.

“I know.”

“So, what do you say?  Will you join the Custos Watchers and be a Preceptor in the Order of the Force?”  Arleia bites on the end of her thumb, then nods.

“All right.”  Arlie grins.

“When did you get that habit back?  I thought we ditched it when we were thirteen?”

“Hey if you can keep biting your lip, I can keep biting my thumb without judgement.”

“Defensive much?”

“Fuck off.”

“Love you too.”

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.” The two laugh.

“Finally, someone gets my references!”

“Oh, by the way, Mum and Cliegg may be coming to the temple for dinner and to meet Lil Po, if you want to join us.”

“That’s gonna be hella weird but sure.”

“What does hella mean?” Asajj asks as she comes out of her room and sits on the arm of the couch, cross-legged, and facing them.  Lei and Arlie exchange looks, suddenly realising that Aussies make no blasted sense to the rest of existence sometimes.  Then they silently question if the rest of Earth says this because they’ve never bothered to check…

“In this context, I’m saying it’s going to be seriously weird.”  Honestly, the two aren’t sure if that’s much better but Asi seems to understand.

 

 

When Mic and Mace leave their room (None of the three want to know why it’s so long after Asi) they see Asajj sitting on top of the highest cupboards, Arl on the dining table beside the kitchen, and Arleia on the kitchen bench.

“You guys have heard of chairs, right?” They get three shit-eating grins in response.

“I’m bored, Arl, wanna spar?”

“Thought you’d be stuffed after a night on the cans.” Arl says with a laugh, Lei smiles.

“Well I ain’t callin in a sickie.”

“Oh gods, they’re bouncing off each other now.”  The two looks genuinely confused, Asajj laughs.

“So…sparring?” Arl asks, Lei nods. “Righto, off we pop.” The two leave.

“Seriously…what?” Mic whines, Mace just shrugs and makes tea.  Then looks at Mic.

“Want to go watch?” He and Asi nod enthusiastically.

“Righto, off we pop.” Mic tells them, they laugh.

 

Somehow word got around, the whole group, save for Quin, Dooku, Obi, Qui-Gon, and the Little Potato, ended up there.  Lei blames Yoda.  Yoda threatens her with a stick.  Lei grabs said stick and holds it above her head, raising an eyebrow as if to say ‘Watcha gonna do now, bitch?’ Yoda grumbles, holding his hand out.  Lei returns the stick.  Yoda hits her with it.

“Oh my lordy, I just realised Little Obi and I still haven’t sparred.”

“Lol.” Lei and Arl look at each other, shaking heads vehemently. “Nope! Text talk is not making a comeback!” Both shout at each other at the same time.

“In any case, it’s not going to happen for a few months, at least.” Arl says, Lei nods.

“Meanwhile, you realise I’m going to win, right?” Arl smirks at her counterpart.

“We’ll see.”

The two take up position, waiting for Mace to call it before beginning.  Two minutes into the match they both realise the problem with this.  Not only can the two of them use the force to look not just for what it’s telling them to do, but also for discrepancies if they don’t follow.  And though Arl cannot anticipate Arleia the way Lei can Arl, seeing as Lei has 15’000 years on her, she still thinks the same way.  In the end, they both realise it will come down to stamina, and given that Arleia does not need to sleep, nor breathe, nor will she run out of energy, Arl’s screwed.  So here they are, two minutes into a match, and well aware of how it is going to end, and that it could conceivably take over an hour, depending on how long Arlie can keep this up.  They both stop simultaneously.

“Well that was about as useful as a snow suit at Christmas.”

“What happened?  What’s a snow suit, and what’s chrissmus?”  Garen asks from where he stands against the wall.

“We realised how pointless the match is, a snow suit is what people on Earth wear in snow to avoid becoming hypothermic, and Christmas is a holiday, a celebration, that some cultures on Earth celebrate annually.” Arlie explains, Asi looks interested from where she is sitting between her Masters and had been staring at the match in awe.

“What does it celebrate?”

“Originally it was the time of the winter/summer solstice, then in about the year 340, Pope Julius declared that the birth of Christ would be celebrated on that date.”

“Whose Christ?  What’s a Pope? What’s a solstice?” Lei looks amused.

“I’m starting to understand how you made that holocron pre-divergent timeline.” Asajj lights up.

“I made a holocron?”

“Yeah, for me, while I was in a coma.  You unveiled it to the world, since you’d been making it in secret, during my pyre and it became my official holocron.”  Asajj looks amazed as others look impressed.

“Anyway, Christ differs depending on who you are talking too.  Some believe Jesus was the Son of God, others a prophet, and some do not believe he existed at all.  Those that celebrate his birth, and I’m not certain about this, but I am pretty sure it’s only those that believe him the Son of God.  The holiday became commercialised and now it’s mainly just an excuse to give presents, eat a bunch of food, and force children to big family gatherings that, depending on age, either make them happy because grandparents house, or wish a truck would hit them because grandparents house.”

“That is a much better explanation than I was going to give.” Arlie says, sounding amused.

“How would you have explained Christmas?”

“Basically just it’s a day where you give each other presents and usually have a Barbecue with way more potato than necessary.”

“That doesn’t encompass the entire planet.”

“Or all of history as you did.”

“There was a very long time before Christmas you know, and Jesus.” Garen snaps his fingers.

“Jesus Christ, yes, thank you.  Sorry, I’d been wondering where I had heard it before.  You’ve cursed his name before, said he was a deity on Earth.”

“He sort of is, he’s a bit different.”

“We also shouldn’t be doing that.  Belief or no, it’s rude to those who do believe.”

“Yeah but Lei, we aren’t on Earth anymore, and no one here _does_ believe.”

“You remember last time you believed no one else could hear you when you did?” Arlie groans and buries her face in her hands.

“Worst school camp _ever_.” They both laugh.

“Oh, and a solstice is either of the two points in the year, summer solstice and winter solstice, when the sun is at either its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon.  It marks the longest and the shortest days of the year.” Xanny scrunches his face up in confusion.

“Why would you celebrate that?” The two girls exchange pondering looks.

“Something about a harvest maybe?” Arl suggests.

“I’m not sure how harvesting the dead of winter and middle of the fricking summer would have been.”

“Maybe they were celebrating not having to work then?” Arl suggests, Lei laughs. “Or perhaps they were distracting themselves from either freezing temperatures or blistering heat.”

“I think you’re forgetting not every country is like Australia with experiencing the two extremes.  Besides, you’ve got to remember that this started in the northern hemisphere.  So it’s the winter solstice that we know was celebrated not the summer one.  I mean it may have been but neither of us know that for sure.   This lighting anything up?”

“Why are you asking me?  You have my memories!”

“Yes but they are far more recent for you.”  Arl goes quiet as she thinks, biting on her lip and furrowing her brows before her eyes light up.

“You know what, actually it has.  Lighting something up, that’s what they were celebrated.  Dad once said something about the shortest day, and everything after it being longer.  I think they were celebrating the return of the sun and warmer, longer days.” Lei’s nods slowly.

“I think I may vaguely remember that too.  Well, there you go, that’s why.”  Everyone seems rather amused at the interaction.  “We never actually discussed how we’re getting her here you know Arlie.” Arl nods solemnly.

“I’ve no fucking idea.”

“Is the language necessary?”

“Yes.”  Lei sighs before she bites her lip and looks ever so slightly hesitant.

“I have an idea…”

 

“Okay so, let me get this straight.  You want to track down wherever Wrath had been hiding when not on Tatooine, and hopefully find the Anti-Force, tell her that you are surrendering, and giving yourself up to her?”  Obi clarifies, Arleia nods as she bounces Sheev in her arms, Asi making faces at the baby from her place on Arl’s lap beside Lei.

“If she wants to make me suffer, she should at least grant me an audience.  I trained her to adhere to basic social niceties.”

“…She made me remember torturing Siri into giving me the location of a few force-sensitive younglings.  I am not so certain she was listening to those particular lessons.”  Anakin dead-pans, Arlie winces as Lei looks at him calmly.

“You of all people should know what it is like to be out of control of yourself.  She cannot think straight.”

“That’s sort of my point Sister-mine.  I’m not saying it’s her fault, I’m saying she isn’t herself.”

“Then perhaps she will listen out of madness if not sense.” Arleia reasons.

“Why are you so sure she will stay there when we arrive long enough to even hear your surrender?” Ani asks rather harshly, Lei takes a deep breath.

“Because I know what it is to go mad with anger and time.  To have control taken from you.  I know she will see me because I would respond to that summons and she has always been far too like me for my liking.”

“How could you possibly know what it’s like to go mad with anger?” Anakin questions a tad hysterically.

“Anakin I tried to kill Yoda in a fit of madness and rage.  I smiled and laughed through months of torture, taking gleeful solace in reality unravelling around me.  Happily watching everything be destroyed.  We know madness.  And We know her.” Arl interjects when Lei seems to calm herself before going to reply. “I agree with Lei, Quilo will be there.”

“You know, I’m not sure I appreciate having two older sisters who can gang up on me.”  The two girls in question look at each other like they hadn’t thought of it that way before, but then they shrug and it’s like they’ve come to some sort of agreement, before they simply move on.

“I do not know, I was hoping you would know what to do.” Arleia explains, looking to Anakin who cringes.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you all, but I am not a prophecy!  I am not the chosen one, there _is_ no damned chosen one!”

“Hey you’re the one who was talking about balance.” Arl points out.

“Whose side are you on?!” Arl sighs.

“Whichever side gets me my way?” Anakin glares at her.

“Anakin, Arl, that’s enough.  It does not yet matter.  Before anything else we must find where Wrath has been.” Arleia tells the two who nod and sit back in their chairs.

“Sounds like we are back at the beginning then to me.  Find Wrath’s hiding place.” Dooku says, Arleia sighs.

“15’592 years I’ve been at this.  My entire life has been leading to this.  Finally everything is coming together, yet I am attempting to do exactly what I have been since Qui-Gon died in the first timeline.  Find where this Sith has been.  Quilo has to be waiting for him somewhere, somewhere she can find him and will know is safe for her.  Somewhere they’ve been meeting and Wrath has been hiding for years prior to his death.”

“What’s your point?” Clee asks her, Lei places her interlocked hands on the table before her, a pensive look upon her face.

“My point, is that I have spent the majority of my life planning for everything in an effort to take this man down.  I know him, far better than I ever would have liked.  I know how he thinks, I know his habits, his motivations and his fears.  Most importantly, I know where he goes to hide, that’s where Quilo will be.” Quin raises an eyebrow at her. “Did you never wonder how he managed to be in the House at the exact right time in order to capture you and Obi-Wan?”

“What?” Obi asks her, she looks to her nephew before standing and giving him to Qui-Gon, then she goes and stands in front of Obi-Wan.

“That house has been in your family for a very long time.  The only good thing Cosinga ever did was to allow his wife to raise his child in his family home after they split.  But it came from his side, he grew up there too, he knows every inch of that house, and knows exactly where to go to avoid detection for as long as he damn well pleases because no one that hasn’t grown up there will ever find him.”  Obi-Wan looks rather dejected, he never really did appreciate being reminded of the fact that his home has not been his home in a very long time.  “Of course what I don’t know, is how he _was_ managing to hide in there, it’s a good sized house but it isn’t a mansion.  And you and Quin should have been able to tell he was there.  So I was hoping, that as the only person here who has a hope of knowing the house as well as he does, you might have an idea Moo Moo?” Lei asks turning to face her former Master…who is also her Grand-Padawan…Kriffing time travel.  He raises an eyebrow at her, she looks questioning.  He sighs and frowns in concentration as he remembers everything about the house that he can.

“Well it’s not the old treehouse because my Brother was allergic to the tree it was built in and since Cosinga was using his body he would have had to deal with that.  Has to be somewhere I wouldn’t think of easily…like somewhere I shouldn’t know exists.  Sonofabitch, she’s in the damned bunker!” Mace looks up, Obi looks confused.

“What bunker?”  Mace smirks, eyes alight with amusement.

“What bunker indeed.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 **Disclaimer** **–** Apart from story line and a few OCs, Star Wars is obviously, though sadly, not mine.  Rights to Lucas.

 

They decide quickly that only a few people will be going, so an hour after that meeting adjourns, Mace, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Arl, Dooku, Lei, and Xanatos head to Naboo.

“Obi-Wan, I’m sorry.” Mace tells his nephew as they near Naboo, Obi-Wan looks at him questioningly.

“Sorry, Uncle Moo Moo?  Sorry about what?”

“Nih-Lo.  Gods know what happened to him.  He should be here to see justice as well and he isn’t.”  Obi-Wan looks shifty for a moment before he kneels in front of Mace and takes his hands.

“Uncle, Nih-Lo not being here is not your fault.  I should have told you what happened to him a long time ago, and I am sorry I didn’t.  I was trying to save you further pain.”

“Further pain?”  Obi sighs.

“While I was in Foster Care, I killed three people in two separate incidents.  The first incident was an old couple, Sir and Lady Fandaru.  The second was a Nun.  Nih and I were in an orphanage run by Nuns, and this particular Nun took an instant dislike of my brother and I.  Then Nih-Lo dropped and smashed a plate.  She took him to the attic of the orphanage to ‘discipline him’, I went to stop her.  This got more volatile than they usually did with her, she had a freaking axe when I entered the room.  There was a fight, I lost.  She was about to kill me when I accidentally used the force, the axe changed direction during her swing and she just about cleaved herself in half.” Mace grows more disturbed the longer Obi-Wan continues talking, but wisely does not interrupt. “From that moment on, Nih-Lo and I were practically attached at the hip, but he was also afraid of me, afraid of the force that in his eyes I commanded.  When Dad and Aika adopted me, he was left alone in that place.”

“That’s why he ran off?” Obi-Wan shakes his head.

“That’s why I did.”  Mace looks at him in confusion. “When Nih ran off on his twelfth birthday, it wasn’t because he did not like where he was, but because he loved it.  The family he was with died in a civil war, he didn’t want to leave the planet so he evaded the authorities.  Sparked a resistance among the children of the world and they fought back, together.”

“A civil war and a resistance of children huh?” Mace asks beginning to think he sees where this is going.

“I didn’t leave the order for Cerasi, I did it for Nih-Lo.  He was killed the day we met The Young.  He died in my arms and as he did he requested that I stay and help fight for his home as he had been.” Obi-Wan blinks away tears.  “He isn’t here because he is dead, he died fighting for something he believed in.  Cerasi made me realise that for that, he deserved to have his life celebrated, not the end of it mourned.  And when the civil war ended, it was both their lives we celebrated.  That is the way of the Melida people, of Nih-Lo’s people and culture and that is how we must remember him.  He found his place in this life Uncle, just as we have found ours.  And I know that he would not wish any of it any other way, just as I would not.”  Mace smiles a watery smile at his nephew.

“I am so very proud of you Obi-Wan Palpatine, and your Mother and Father would be too.”  He says as he puts a hand on Obi’s shoulder, Obi-Wan returns his smile and takes a seat beside his Uncle once more.

 

 

A few minutes later they land on Naboo, when they get off they see their requested audience awaiting their arrival.

“Uncle Ruwee!” Obi-Wan calls cheerfully, striding up to and embracing his Father’s closest friend. “How’s Aunty Jobal?”  The older man smiles, hugging Obi-Wan close to him.

“Little Obi, it has been far too long.  Jobal is good, sorry to have missed this but, busy with the children.  It is good to see you again my boy.”  They hear someone clear their throat from beside them, turning, they see an unimpressed Padmé Amidala.

“When were you going to tell me Obi-Wan Kenobi!?” She demands, he smiles sheepishly at her glad that Ruwee Naberrie had agreed to tell his god-daughter and now actual daughter the truth.

“Well I didn’t know what Uncle Ruwee had mentioned and…well…likely never.” He trails off awkwardly.

“We’ll talk about this later Brother.” She tells him sternly, he grins.

“Of course Mé.” She smiles.

“Yep, this was about as weird as I was expecting.” Anakin mutters, Arl elbows him, “Ow!  Was the violence necessary?”

“Was the prior comment?” They glare at each other.

“I am curious, why did you suddenly decide I had to know the truth?” Padmé asks, Mace walks forward slightly.

“How much have you been told?”

“Questioning my ability to parent a child again are you Moo Moo?” Mace sighs.

“Ru, I never questioned you…”

“…You literally said ‘are you sure you know how to parent a child?’ that is a direct quote.”

“You had just poked Nih with a stylus!”  They both look at each other before grining and hugging.

“It’s good to see you again Mace.”

“And you old friend.”

“You know sometimes I forget you ever had a life here.” Xan tells him, Dooku snickers.

“Oh shut it Tyranus.”

“You’ve digressed again.” Lei tells them.

“I know my Father murdered my Mother.” Padmé tells them.

“That’s why you needed to know now, why we are here actually.” Dooku tells her.

“Father didn’t kill Mother.  Our Grand-Father did.  He possessed him.  It’s a long story.  But the reason you needed to know the truth now is because we are about to take down the person he was working with, for good.  And believe me this has been a very long time coming.  We thought you would like to be apart of it more than you would like to live in blissful ignorance.  Now that everything will be over soon the danger to you will be too.” Obi-Wan explains.

“Damn right I want to be a part of it.” She tells him, a steely quality to her gaze.

“Yes, we thought you might say that.” Xanny says with a significant look to Anakin who sighs.

“There is more you should know, if you would like to hear it?”  She nods readily.  “Then we should probably head inside.”

 

“We were married?”

“How is that what you’ve taken from everything we’ve said?  You are sitting across from who is literally the force!” Anakin says incredulously, Padmé rolls her eyes.

“I like…”

“Paying attention to miscellaneous detail, all the important parts end up being found there anyway.” Anakin quotes, finishing her sentence, she looks at him in surprise for a moment before grinning madly.

“Good to know the important things never change.  I’m curious, why do you believe this Quilo will just be there waiting for the Sith after all this time?”

“We don’t.  We believe she will be monitoring a specific place waiting for him and that when Arleia gets there she can get her to appear before us.” Dooku explains, Padmé nods.

“Thank you Lord Tyranus.” He inclines his head to her.

“Anything else before we go catch this girl?” Mace asks his niece, who does not even hesitate to look at them, fiery determination in her eyes like she’s expecting strong resistance and is more than prepared to fight like hell.

“Oh I know that look.”  Anakin mutters, Xan pats his back supportively.

“I want to remember.”

“What?”  Everyone present asks.  That being those from the temple plus Ruwee, Panaka, C3PO, and R2D2.  Literally even Artoo let out a beep of disbelieving query.

“Arleia, you brought back my Brother’s memories of this other timeline, I want mine too.”  Lei looks her over before scoffing.

“Figures you’d be the only person to hear this and actually _want_ to remember.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Padmé asks defensively, Anakin drops his head into his hands as Arl smirks at her counterpart.

“Here we go.”  Obi-Wan sighs while Xan and Doo look amused.  Mace just seems content to wait this out.

“You have a habit of diving into the deep end with no real idea what’s below and you’re unsure if you’ll remember how to swim.”

“Master Damask, the ability to swim, once learnt, is survival instinct.  If I need to, I will swim.  Besides, the only way to know for sure what is beneath the waves is to go beneath them and find out.”

“And if you hit a rock or a shark and die?”  The Queen smirks as though she’s just won the argument, Lei’s pretty sure she has.

“I suppose, then, that it is a good thing I have experienced divers with me, yes?”  Lei centres herself and nods.

“Indeed it is.  Be sure Padmé, because this may not be easy to undo should you decide you no longer wish to remember.”

“I would hope you know me better than to believe I would run from knowledge of any kind, no matter how ghastly.”

“Yes, unfortunately I do.  I suppose I merely hoped you’d somehow grown more intelligent despite less time having passed.”

“Better than being a coward who would willingly run from the truth, wouldn’t you say?” Padmé asks her challengingly, Lei seems to grow tired very suddenly.

“Best ask the younger version of me that question, because while she is, I am no longer so sure.”

“Oh?”

“Padmé some things are best left forgotten.”  The young girl gets an odd look on her face before she walks forward to stand tall before the Force.

“Maybe so, but I believe that is a decision everyone must make on their own.  Your job is to guide people yes?  But in the end it is their choice to make.  I am making mine.  And I am telling you, force or no force, to shut up, and listen to me.” Arleia smiles as everyone from the temple looks at the young queen in varying levels of resignation, surprise, and contentedness.

“And you say prophecies don’t exist.”  She says mockingly to her younger Brother who sighs. “Right then, let’s do this your highness.”

“Good.  Now what do I need to do?”

“Lay down on the ground before me.”  Lei tells her as she sits cross-legged on the ground.  Padmé follows her instructions without hesitation.  She does as she once did to Little Obi, and brings the girl’s memories back to her.  Padmé gasps and goes limp.

“Is she all right?” Ruwee asks instantly worried for his daughter.

“She’s fine Rue.  She’s just asleep.” Mace tells him as Lei nudges Padmé into wakefulness.

“Padmé?” Anakin asks, “Do you remember everything?”  The girl looks disoriented for a moment before her eyes focus on Anakin, her hand goes and gently touches her throat.  Anakin looks stricken before Padmé giggles.

“Well I remember you telling me about the fish fight dream.”  Anakin perks up at her talking to him before he looks confused and then deeply embarrassed.

“Oh great, now I remember that dream too.”

“Fish fight dream?” Obi-Wan asks, Padmé looks at Anakin questioningly.

“I thought Ashoka told him because you wouldn’t let her stay in your quarters while you and Obi-Wan were gone?”  He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.

“No, I gave in.”  She wacks him on the back of the head.

“Anakin!”

“Yes I know, I know.”

“So you’ve said before, yet here we are, having this conversation again, and I’m not convinced you were even listening the first time!”

“It doesn’t even matter anymore Dear, we don’t live in that timeline!”

“Don’t you dear me while completely disregarding what I am saying!  Are you really going to tell me that you don’t plan to take her as your Padawan as soon as you are able?”  He takes a deep breath, looking rather annoyed.

“Of course I plan to.”

“Then it _is_ still relevant.”

“Yes, okay, you’re right, is that what you want to here?”

“No Anakin, I’m not you.  I don’t feel the need to be right all the time.”

“Could have kriffing fooled me.”  They look at each other unhappily for a moment as everyone else sits awkwardly in silence unsure whether it not they should referee.  Suddenly the two grin and lunge to hold each other. “Gods I’ve missed you.”

“I am always with you Anakin, I watched over you after he killed me.  I love you Anakin Skywalker, nothing that has happened has changed that, and nothing ever will.”  He smiled adoringly at her before he just pulls her close again.

“I love you too Padmé.  Always and forever.”

“Well that was simultaneously adorable and confusing.” Xanatos comments.

“You’ve never been in a long term relationship have you Xanny?”

“No Master.”

“Did not think so.”

“So, relationships that will hopefully wait a few years so that it’s legal before developing aside, lets go get ourselves a crazy Padawan shall we?” Lei asks.

“Honestly I’m still questioning the fish thing.” Obi-Wan tells them, Anakin laughs.

“Some things never change, and Master, I am so very glad that you’re one of them.”  Obi just grins at him making him laugh again.

 

Padmé, Arleia, Anakin, Xanatos, Arl, Mace, Obi-Wan, and Dooku enter the Palpatine house an hour later.

“Lead the way Master.”  Lei tells Mace who nods and leads them to the loungeroom, lifting the rug and pulling up the near invisible trap door below.  They all climb down the stairs, and find an old hallway which they begin heading down.

“I found this when I came to visit as a child.  I’d just started seeing shatter points, it was traumatic and Master Yoda felt seeing my Mother may calm me.  While playing in the living room with your Mother, I shattered the trap door with a single touch by accident.  Lorna was force-sensitive, trained to use it but never a Jedi.  She and I put the door back together and never told anyone we’d found this place.  Not even Sheev.”  Mace explains to Padmé’s questioning look, she nods thoughtfully.  For a moment it seems as though she’s about to say something, then thinks better of it.

Eventually they come to a doorway with no door, inside they see lights flickering.  They begin slowing, hesitating to enter, when Lei simply strides in.

“I’m the Force guys, if you think I cannot restrain some random force-sensitive, you have seriously underestimated me.”  They all come in and find a man that Obi-Wan and Anakin instantly recognise.  Obi-Wan launching towards him as Anakin instantly moves to restrain him.  Dooku helping Anakin almost as quick, getting Obi-Wan back into the hallway despite his best efforts.

“Obi-Wan.  It won’t help.”  Sohn looks up at him.

“Oh but I disagree.” He states savagely (Pun 100% intended.  You’ll get it in a minute.).

“Who is that in there?” Dooku asks him, but it’s Anakin who answers, though he never looks away from Sohn’s face.

“Savage Oppress.”

“And we hate him why?” Sohn practically hisses in disgust.

“Would you care for a list?  Alphabetical or chronological?”

“I suppose that means there are a fair few reasons then.”

“Yep.  I think this mainly has to do with his involvement in…”

“Anakin shut it.” Sohn tells him, standing straighter and shaking off their hands, looking far more composed than before.  Well, composed for a Dark Sith anyway. “I’m fine.”

“Like hell you are.  You’re staying out here.”

“Just you try and make me Skywalker.” He replies threateningly.  Anakin stands at his full height, suddenly looking far older than the twelve years he should be.

“I am a fully trained Jedi Knight and Sith Lord, more powerful than anything we’ve come across save for Arleia and now Quilo.  You try to leave and any action I take will be in defence of my Brother and my Master.  Do you really think you’ll get past me Darth Sohn?” Anakin asks, eyes flashing yellow briefly. “Because I am warning you now.  _Nothing_ gets past me when I am protecting my family, when I am protecting _you_.  Not anymore.”  Anakin watches as Sohn fades From Obi-Wan’s face, as does the yellow colour of his eyes.

“I’m sorry Anakin.” Obi-Wan says, remembering everything that just happened.

“It’s not your fault Obi-Wan, just remember to talk to Bellan about this when we get back.”  Obi nods sheepishly to his young Apprentice.  “You okay to go back in?”  Obi-Wan looks within himself, judges how far back Sohn is residing, and nods.

“Yes.”  They go back in.

“I’m sorry Little Obi, I didn’t realise who it was.” Lei tells him sheepishly, he waves off her concern.

“If you think you can destroy the Mistress, you are wrong.”

“We have no interest in destroying her Savage Oppress.  But we do wish to end this.  Which is why I am here, to give myself up.  You hear me Padawan?!  I SURRENDER!” Arleia shouts to the ceiling.  A few moments later the room begins glowing white.  A young girl, the same age she was at the end of the war, appears.  Dooku takes in her appearance, platinum blonde hip length curls, pale skin, and black eyes.  She’s adorable, and he wonders how her life ever came to this.  Then remembers that it was because of other him and the damned war.

“Good evening Master.” Quilo says with the most sarcastic and sassy curtsy Lei has ever seen. “Hanging out with Count Dooku are we?  Can’t say that no one saw that coming.” She says with a giggle. Lei sighs.

“Quilo, please, this _has_ to stop.”  Suddenly the child stops laughing and looks at her Master with nothing but death and cold hard rage in her eyes.

“No!  This has only just begun!  You think you can abandon me on some random farm with people I barely know after I have lost _everything_ and just keep on living?!  NO!” She tells her, mad with rage and hatred, eyes changing to the same yellow and red as the Sith.

“Padawan, you were safe.  I just wanted to bring Garen home.”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THE TRUTH?!  YOU KNEW YOU WERE NEVER COMING BACK! BUT YOU STILL LEFT.  YOU _STILL LEFT ME!_ ”  Obi-Wan looks at her questioningly, then turns to Arleia who is trying not to cry.

“Quilo.  You are hurting other people too.  People who have done nothing to deserve it.”

“Oh everyone has done something to deserve punishment Master, you taught me that.  Everyone can make both good and bad decisions, no matter what.”

“Who are you to decide that?”

“Who am I not to?  If not me, who else?”

“Why must anyone?!”

“Because that is the nature of life my Master!  The guilty must be punished.” Quilo tilts her head to the side very suddenly, “Are you really going to tell me that you do not deserve to be punished?” Lei’s tears fall.

“The others don’t.”

“Here in this room, Master, are murderers, and liars, and thieves, adulterers, not to mention Darth freaking Vader.  TRAITORS!”

“Adulterers?” Xan can’t help but ask, Quilo nods towards Padmé, Anakin raises an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t give me that look, you started it.”

“Not the time guys.” Mace tells them as Anakin goes to respond, then he turns to Quilo. “What’s Xan done to deserve it?  To deserve his mind being taken over.”

“He turned on his Master.” Xan flinches.

“Right, I’d forgotten how all that started.” Dooku comments.

“What about you?” Anakin asks, Quilo looks at him in confusion.  “What have you done to deserve this punishment?”

“I am not the one being punished.”

“Oh?  You’re making yourself watch people you care about suffer.  And I know what it’s like to be angry, constantly.  I know how horrible that feels, how draining.  How much you wish you could just let it go but you can’t.  Not while you use it.  You are being punished far more than the others, so why Quilo?  Why punish yourself?” Quilo blinks like she’s trying to make sense of something that she knows is right but still won’t click into place.  “You forced your way into your Padawanship because you wanted to help bring peace.  This is not peace Quilo.  You’ve betrayed who you are.  You too have turned on your Master.  You’ve helped the Sith, those you swore to fight against.  You are a traitor to the Jedi and to your family.”  Anakin tells her.

“Anakin!  Leave her alone.” Lei demands as Arl moves to stand between them.

“You’re torturing your Master, she who is still protecting you after everything that’s happened and all the time now between you.”  Quilo starts crying, Arl moves over and holds her.

“No, Quilo, you’re right.  I deserve to be punished.  But not by you, not like this.  You shouldn’t be suffering as well.  And neither should they.  Please let them go.”

“No don’t!  Come on now, I’m Darth Vader, if anyone deserves punishment it’s me.  Tyranus here that betrayed the Jedi and became a Dark Sith.  Xanatos who turned on his Master, Mace who lied to his husband for so many years.  Padmé who cheated on me, and Arl and Lei.  Well, enough said there.  I mean they tried to save everyone.  How dare they.  Yes, you are right.  They deserve to be punished.”  Quilo glares at him as tears continue to run down her face, he walks over and kneels in front of her. “Quilo Harril, everyone is capable of doing truly terrible things given the right circumstances.  But they are capable of great things as well.  Arlie is capable of greatness, as are you.  Please Quilo, come home.  Watch her earn redemption, as you earn yours.  As we all do.  We cannot change the past, all we can do is do better in times to come.  Stand with us, we are all stronger that way, and better for it.  Because I don’t know if I am the only one who has noticed this, but the only time we’ve turned on each other or innocent people, is when we’ve tried to sort something out ourselves instead of working together as we should.  We are the Order of the Force, we are united, and never again divided.  We are family Quilo.  Always.”

“Padawan, I should never have left you, I am so sorry.  But I will never leave you again.” Arl promises her, “Come home, be my Padawan again, we’ll do things right this time.”

“What about her?”  Quilo asks, gesturing to Lei.

“We have a much more important relationship to develop Quilo.  We are the two strongest beings in the galaxy, and right now we are constantly at odds.  We need to combine our strengths and become one, balanced, force.  Please Quilo, it’s the only way.”  Quilo grips Arl’s hand tighter before she nods, slowly, while still inside her Master’s arms.

“How?”  Lei kneels beside her brother and holds her hand out to her Former-Padawan.

“Trust me as I trust you.” Quilo takes her hand and closes her eyes as does Arleia.  White and black fills the room making it rather like the inbetween.  It starts to intertwine, to marble.  It mixes and mixes until you can hardly see the two colours, now there is a dull grey that brightens to a most beautiful silver and purple marbled light.  It fades and the two come back into view.  Something feels different in that moment, like something that had been off in the fabric of reality had…clicked into place.

“Told you…peace.”  Anakin mutters quietly and in awe. 

“Still think you aren’t the Chosen One?”  Anakin chuckles, feeling power filling him like never before, some war inside himself settling as it did in the force.

“Perhaps Master Jinn was right after all, Master.” He responds, remembering the man Qui-Gon was when they first met in the original timeline.  Obi-Wan’s eyes tear up, he embraces his Padawan.

“I love you Anakin.”

“I love you too Brother.”  When they release, Padmé embraces the two, then Anakin drags his sisters and Quilo into the hug, Mace drags Dooku in who drags in Xanatos.

It was worth the celebration, they all thought as they hugged and cried and cheered, after all, not every day an ancient prophecy is fulfilled and two near omnipotent beings settle their differences and find family in each other and those around them.

It’s not surprising that this day does not go down in history, everyone noticed the change and what had happened, but in the end, for most, nothing really changed.  But for the people in this room, and those awaiting their return, everything had.

There had been one of the dark, and one of the light.

Together the light and the dark have created the one,

And the force is at last, balanced.

But more importantly, it is at peace.

 

_So much has changed, so much is new_

_But through it all I_ _’m here with you_

_My teacher, my mentor, my father and friend_

_I_ _’m here with you until the very end_

_It_ _’s one hell of a battle, but I_ _’ll see it through_

_No matter how broken I get_

_I_ will _save you_

_I_ _’m in love with the safety you project_

_A chance to betray you I_ _’ll always reject_

_And no matter what I know that you_ _’d never forget._

_I_ _’m a mess, this much is true_

_My mind_ _’s clear enough to get me through_

_No matter what you_ _’re still my Master_

_Despite your age you still fight faster_

_It_ _’s one hell of a battle, but I_ _’ll see it through_

_No matter how broken I get I_ will _save you_

_I_ _’m in love with the safety you project_

_A chance to betray you I_ _’ll always reject_

_And no matter what I know you_ _’d never forget_

_I promise I won_ _’t ever forget_


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

“Are you sure you want to go Master?” Tilli asks the woman who is technically her _former_ \- Master.  But as with Padawans, once a Novitiate, always a Novitiate.

“I am sure Tilli.  I need some time away.  Do not worry, I will be back my dear.” Lei tells the Wookiee before her, still disbelieving of how far they’ve come.

“As I recall, you said that to my Brother-Padawan and then disappeared for eight-hundred-years.” Lei smiles peacefully though it was etched in pain.  This was, after all, the reason she was leaving.  At nine-hundred-and-fifty-years-old, Yoda had finally and peacefully passed into the Force.  Everyone she had grown up with had too, for various reasons, except for Xanatos.  Before her now, stood Sheev Jinn-Lars (Who at seventy-four, has just taken Tilli’s spot as Head of the Order and is a very successful Shadow Master.)  Tillindàar (Now Grandmaster of the Order and a revered Watcher/Custos Preceptor.)  The immortal as Lei, Quilo (Master of Shadows.) and Poe Vos (Son of Quinlan and Jard Vos{Quin got his Little Potato, literally named Poe} Head of the Archives and very happy to never leave them.  Which at seventy, may be a good thing.)  

“I will not do so again, but I cannot be here right now.”

“I still think you should have succeeded him.” Tilli tells her, Lei smiles.

“I know you do, be given that I proceeded him, I knew exactly what would have been instore for me and wisely chose to pass that on to you.  Have fun my dear.” Tilli grins at her.

“Lei.” Quilo says in a small voice from beside Poe.

“Yes Quilo?”

“My Master only died a few months ago…I…don’t be a stranger.”  Lei’s heart clenches at the memory of her counterpart’s death, it had been like losing half of her soul.  But she and Garen had died together, and while that made it more painful, she also took solace in that, as Xanny had as well.  Now they were all gone save for Xan, but Lei knew it would all be okay.  She’d go on living, no doubt find herself a new family at some point.  And she’d have Quilo by her side, forever.  Besides, she’s half the force, she can always go back in time and watch over them.

“I will be back in one month’s time, I promise.”

“I’ll miss you Aunty Lei.”  Sheev tells her, she smiles and pulls him into a hug.

“I’ll miss you too Sheev. [And I’ll miss you Poe.]”  Poe smiles at her and signs back.

[Come home soon, I love you Arleia.] 

[Love you too my God-Son.] Lei had been delighted, though admittedly very confused, when Tyranus and Quin walked in one day, announced that they’d gotten married, and by the way this is Poe.  He’s our son, and he’s deaf.  They had thought, given everyone’s history of dealing with Quin’s intermittent deafness, it was a good environment for the kid to grow up in without being at a disadvantage.  Xanatos came up behind her and said his goodbyes before leading her away slightly.

“You ready to do this love?” He asks her, they weren’t exactly together in any conventional relationship.  They weren’t intimate and they weren’t married or anything, but it was a closeness of the soul that both cherished always.

“I am, come now my Dear, let me show you where I’m from.”  She pulls him into the inbetween and then out again.  They are in some sort of Alley, she pulls him out and stands him in the middle of a very busy shopping strip, with weird silver balls in the middle.

“Wow.”  He exclaims, she takes his hand and smiles,

“Welcome to Rundle Mall, and to Earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so, this is the end. I spent nine months writing the three installments of this series, I'm honestly quite glad it's all over. I've poured my heart and soul into it and have loved writing about Arleia's misadventures, but it's good for her story to be complete and put to rest.  
> Thank you for anyone who is reading this, I hope you've enjoyed the story as much as I have.
> 
> And dramatically I say, Good bye Arlie, and may the force be with you.


End file.
